Life After
by Jacesangle404
Summary: Sequel to Rock Star. Clary was once in on of the biggest band in the world. She's since settled down with the love of her life and Hollywood actor, Jace Herondale. Will they be able to have the life they've always desired? Or will their past stop their future?
1. Chapter 1: Home Again

**Chapter 1: Home Again**

Hello everyone! Welcome to the sequel to Rock Star; Life After. If you haven't read Rock Star yet, I highly suggest it because this story will make more sense, but hopefully you should be able to follow the story without having read Rock Star. This story will update every Tuesday and Friday. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and the story! If you have and comments, questions or suggestions for the chapter or the story, leave them in the review and I'll get back to you in the next chapter. Enjoy!

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"I can't believe it's been three months - it feels like we left L.A. a week ago," Jace says, shifting his bag to his other hand so he could hold his fiance's hand.

"I know what you mean," Clary says, turning back to get one last look at the building they had called home for the past three months. They had come here straight after everything had finished up with Clary's band. Since then, they had done almost nothing except relax and just be with each other. "But I think it's time to go home."

Jace smiles down at her, and then leads her towards the boat that was waiting to take them to the mainland.

After a little while, they are seated next to each other on a plane, holding hands once again, ready to go back home. Clary was aware of people taking photos and videos of the couple as they walked past, headed for their own seats, but she chose to ignore it. She was determined to cherish these last moments of their holiday, and a few photos weren't going to get in the way of that.

"I can't believe we're going home; to _our _home. It's finally done. We haven't seen it since…" Jace says trying to think of the last time they had visited L.A.

"That would be since the Oscars," Clary says, poking Jace in the side as he rolls his eyes. They had taken a brief intermission in their holiday to go home so they could attend the Oscars. Jace ended up winning best actor for his role in the David Bowie movie, and the film had picked up a few other awards on the night. Clary had taken every possible occasion to bring this fact up, and for possibly the first time ever, Jace was choosing to be humble about his achievements.

"Whenever it was," Jace says, quickly moving past the topic, "it still wasn't finished. It'll be good to finally see it."

"Well just sixteen more hours and then we'll be home," Clary says, quickly kissing Jace on the cheek as he falls back into his seat with a moan. "Sixteen hours isn't _that_ long," she says, giggling at her fiance's expression. "A couple of movies, some dinner and a sleep - we'll be there before you know it!"

"I don't know how you use to fly so much," Jace says, looking over to Clary. Clary had been in a band for over six years, where they had done five global tours, which equated to a lot of flying time.

"You get used to it," she tells him. "Besides, I would usually sleep on the plane."

"Whatever," Jace says, starting to swipe through the available movies on the screen in front of him.

Hours later, they get out of the car in front of their new house. They both stand at the gate for a while, just looking.

"It looks exactly like I'd imagined," Clary says, after a while of silence. She moves towards the front door, and puts in the code to unlock it. Before she can move into the house, Jace grabs her arm to stop her.

She looks back at him confused. He moves to grab the bag out of her hand, and places it on the ground next to his. He then proceeds to pick her up bridal style to carry her through the front door.

"We didn't just get _married_," Clary says, laughing.

"I don't know… feels right. Christening the doorway or whatever it is," he says, moving further into the house, still carrying Clary.

"You know you can put me down now… your doorway's been Christened," Clary says, watching Jace's face as he looks around at their new home.

"I know… but I'm not going to," he says, finally looking at Clary. "Welcome home, baby."

Clary looks around the room they are standing in. Once there was furniture inside, it would become a sort of welcoming slash living room. The actual living room was further into the house, closer to the kitchen. Jace walks them through to this area, and gently places Clary down on the kitchen island.

He then goes and opens up all the big sliding doors that lead out to the backyard. He looks back at Clary and holds a hand out for her to grab, before lightly pulling her out into the yard.

There was a wooden deck that dipped into the grass where there were bluestone stepping stones that lead to the pool. The grass went on for a while before hitting the edge of a small cliff which dropped down to a beach. Clary smiles up at Jace before running towards the staircase that leads down to the section of beach that came with their house.

After exploring the beach and the rest of the house for a while, Clary and Jace lay in the grass in their backyard.

"There should be a truck arriving with the furniture that was in storage from my old house," Clary tells Jace, "so we can use that to live for a little while, and just replace and add to it as we find things that we like."

Both Izzy and Magnus had offered to shop for furniture for the house, or to hire an interior designer to deck it out, but Clary and Jace had agreed that they wanted to find the furniture themselves.

They had already bought a massive picnic table in Greece that was going on the back deck, and Clary and Jace had researched some antique furniture stores that they wanted to go to, to find accessories for around the house.

Jace is about to respond, when they hear a knock at the front door. Jace rolls onto his side and smiles at Clary, before slowly getting up and holding a hand out to her, to help her get up. They go to the front door, where the moving truck man is.

They spent the next few hours getting the furniture, and finding the best place for it at the moment.

They go to bed that night, absolutely exhausted, but excited about the prospect of turning their new house into a home.

"So now that we have some furniture in the house, and we're finally getting back to reality… I think it's finally time to start organising… some other things," Jace says, smiling at Clary. They were sitting on the edge of their deck, looking out at the ocean while eating breakfast.

"What did you have in mind?" Clary asks, moving her spoon around her bowl to mix her yogurt with the muesli.

"Well I did propose to you over seven months ago. I think it might be time to start talking about our wedding… maybe think about a date, or location…" Jace says, looking into Clary's bowl and taking one of the raspberries.

"You really think _you_ proposed to _me_?" Clary says, grinning at Jace.

"I remember asking 'Clary Fray. Will you marry me?'," he says, quickly grabbing another raspberry. "I don't see how you could think otherwise."

"I remember running through an airport to stop you from leaving me… and then pretty much proposing to you," Clary says, lightly hitting his hand as he tries to take another raspberry. "There's lots of video's if you need a reminder."

"Okay well… whatever. I think we should start planning. And I'm going to get some more raspberries because you're not nice enough to share," Jace says, sticking his tongue out and then getting up and heading into the house.

Clary's phone begins ringing, and she picks it up to see Simon's face on the screen.

"Hey Si, what's up?" Clary asks.

"I heard you guys were back. What are you up to?" he replies.

"Well we've just been getting used to the new house… planning our wedding apparently," Clary says, as Jace sits back down next to her, with a punnet of raspberries.

"It's about time…" Simon says, laughing.

"So I've heard. Anyway, are you busy tonight?" Clary asks.

"I'm sure we're free. What have you got in mind?" Simon asks.

"Jace and I were talking about having everyone over to the house. I'll have to warn you; it's majorly under-furnished," Clary says, looking over her shoulder and back into her house.

"I can live with it. We'll be over at seven?" he says. "Oh, Izzy just got home from her cycling class - I'll see you tonight."

"See you later Si," Clary answers, hanging up the phone.

"Izzy and Simon coming over tonight?" Jace asks.

"Yeah, at seven. You call Alec and I'll call Kit?" Clary says, already dialling Kits number. Jace kisses Clary on the side of the head before going back into the house to get his phone.

"Hey, Christopher," Clary says once Kit answers the phone.

"Clarissa," he says. "What's going on?"

"Everyone's coming over tonight to check out the new house, have some drinks. Probably some pizza. You free?" Clary asks.

"For drinks and pizza. Hell yeah!" he says.

"Okay, well it starts at seven. I'll see you tonight," Clary says, laughing a little.

"Jace, I'm going to go have a shower," Clary yells out, walking into the house.

"Okay," he says back. Alec and Magnus are good to come tonight," he says, lightly kissing her on the temple.

When Clary comes back to the kitchen around ten minutes later, Jace is sitting at the bench on his laptop.

"What'cha looking at?" Clary asks, wrapping her arms around Jace's waist and resting her head on his shoulder, looking at the laptop screen. It was a big house on a property in upstate New York.

"I thought it might be nice for the wedding," he says, scrolling through some more photos.

"Looks nice. I've also thought about getting married in France? Somewhere close to where you grew up. It was just so beautiful there," Clary answers.

"We've got all the time in the world to plan," Jace says, opening up a link for a new location. They keep looking through locations all over the country, and a few overseas when they hear a knock at the door. Clary kisses Jace on the cheek, and then goes to the front door.

Izzy and Magnus are waiting on the other side.

"You guys know you're not meant to be here until seven, right?" Clary says, laughing a little, but letting them into the house anyway.

"We know, but Simon told me you were finally starting to plan your wedding… and obviously we had to come help," Izzy says, holding up a binder.

"You two made a binder for our wedding?" Clary says in disbelief.

"Look, you and Jace are cute; but you're not cut out to plan a wedding," Magnus says. "And no wedding planner is going to take care of you like we will."

"Isabelle, Magnus…" Jace says, spinning on the chair to face them. "I should have known you'd be here. You probably heard us talking about our wedding all the way from your house."

"More like I heard Clary talking to Simon about it," Izzy says, "and really. You tell Simon but not me? I thought we were friends, Clary."

"You probably would've found out tonight," Clary says, shrugging.

"Ten hours later. Not acceptable," Izzy says, dropping the binder onto the kitchen island next to Jace's laptop. "Oh look Magnus, how cute. They were researching locations."

"Ohh France," Magnus says, looking at the screen. "Maybe they will be open to our bigger budget plan!"

"I've been shopping with both of you," Clary says, laughing. "I don't think we can afford your bigger budget."

They all talk it over for a while and decide that they don't want to get married in a big city, and are open to getting married in France. Clary also brings up how pretty the hotel looked when Jace was planning on proposing… with all the lights and candles, and Izzy says they'll definitely be able to bring that into it.

"Also we should go wedding dress shopping as soon as possible!" Izzy says, as Jace ushers her towards the door.

"We made a list of shops, we'll send it over!" Magnus yells into the house, just before Jace shuts the door.

Clary takes a deep breath. "Well that was a lot."

Jace laughs and grabs Clary hand, "at least we know they're on board. And I'm thinking about a swim," he says, pulling them towards their bedroom to get changed.

"We've got to get drinks for tonight; I was going to do it earlier, but…" the fact that Isabelle and Magnus had taken up their entire morning and a good chunk of their afternoon hangs between them.

"We can go quickly and still have time to squeeze in a swim," Jace says, grabbing the keys for the car and changing direction, so he is now pulling Clary towards the garage.

"Whatever you say," Clary says, running a few steps to catch up to him.

When everyone comes over later that night, Clary and Jace are still in the pool. After a quick tour of the house, they spend the rest of the night in the pool, drinking and eating pizza, and sharing stories of their adventures from the past three months they had spent apart, which suddenly felt like no time at all.

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Hopefully you enjoyed that chapter. I promise the story will have drama in it, but I just thought it should start out nicely. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about this chapter or the story, let me know in the review and I'll get back to you in the next chapter! Have a great week.


	2. Chapter 2: Stepping Stones

**Chapter 2: Stepping Stones**

Hey guys. Thanks for all the feedback on the last chapter. I really appreciate it! I've also taken all the suggestions in, and am working them into the story now! Hope you enjoy the chapter.

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"Herondale's latest role in the David Bowie biopic earned him more than just an Oscar. Directors and producers have been eager to work with the young talent after he swapped his usual teenage romance movies for a more serious role. Playing Bowie allowed Herondale to show off his ability to sing, play an array of instruments, as well as show off an impressive British accent," the lady on the TV says.

"Oh, turn it off!" Jace yells from the kitchen.

"Shhhh," Clary says back, "I'm listening." She turns up the volume a little bit for good measure.

"However, Herondale has not accepted any new roles, instead choosing a three month vacation with fiance, Clary Fray. The pair were spotted back in L.A. recently, where it is rumoured they have moved into a house they have been building for the past few months. There has been no word from Herondale or his team whether this move back to Los Angeles means he will be taking on a new role, but everyone is highly anticipating his next move. Back to you Deb," the news reporter finishes.

Jace sits down next to Clary on the couch and quickly turns the TV off before the two women on the screen can start discussing him.

"What _are_ you going to do next," Clary asks gently. They had both been avoiding the topic of work while they were on vacation, but now they were back in reality, it seemed that everyone just assumed they instantly wanted to start working again.

"What are _you _going to do," Jace asks Clary with a teasing smile.

"I asked you first," Clary replies, feeling slightly immature.

"I think mines a bigger question," Jace replies, but Clary won't have any of it. She crosses her arms and raises her eyebrows, telling Jace that she's not going to talk until he does. "I'm going to do what I've always done. I'm going to film a movie. But you have the world in your hands at the moment; I know people want you in movies again. Is that something you'd want to do?"

It was true. She'd ended up performing _Into the Unknown_ from Frozen 2 at the Oscars. It was nominated for best original song, and the person who was meant to be singing it had fallen ill the day before the event. Apparently someone knew that Clary was already coming as Jace's guest, and thus was available, and had seen her perform _Defying Gravity_ at Royals for a Day, so knew she'd be able to sing it well.

Apparently, people liked what they heard, because she'd since been offered a bunch of roles in musicals, or doing voice work in animations. She hadn't had time to figure anything out yet including setting up new management or agents, and as such, Magnus was contacting her almost daily, because there was no other way to get to Clary.

"I'm still taking a break," Clary says, overwhelmed by everything she still had to do. "I might start setting a new team, and it'll definitely be music first. But I don't know when I'm actually going to start with that."

"Right, of course," Jace says, not wanting to put any pressure on her. "You can take as long as you need."

"But what about you?" Clary asks. "Do you want to start again soon? And what kind of movie are you thinking?"

"That's a lot of questions from someone who doesn't want to answer any herself," Jace says, but Clary just shrugs. "I think I will start again soon. I definitely want to do another more serious role, but probably not something as big as Bowie. I've been reading through the scripts that Iz sent me and there a few that look good - and most of them are in L.A."

"You know I could just go with you, right?" Clary says, picking up both their bowls from breakfast, "don't base your decision on location; if there's _one time_ that location doesn't matter, it's now." She heads to the kitchen to clean up, and Jace is left sitting on the couch, thinking over his options.

After a little while, Jace heads into his office - or what would one day be his office. At the moment it was just a desk and chair in the middle of the room, and some picture frames leaning up against the wall. Clary had made them for him. They were posters from movies he had been in or told her he loved, to make his office look more professional. He just hadn't gotten around to actually hanging them up yet. Then again, they'd only been here for a few days.

He had three scripts laying on the desk in front of him to choose from. He'd read through them all and liked the stories and characters from each. What Clary had said rung in his head - location didn't matter. Despite this, he picked up the script that was set to be shot in Italy and dropped it onto the floor. They'd only just moved into their house, and he wanted to enjoy it.

He looks at the two scripts left laying in front of him. One is called 'The Hero of Two Worlds'. It's about Marquis de Lafayette who was part of the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolution. The other is called 'Killers of the Flower Moon'. It's a 1920's mystery about the murders of the Members of the Osage tribe.

Flower Moon was definitely a bigger movie, which would be directed by Scorsese and rumoured to star Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. He would however, get the lead role in Two Worlds and he would be able to finally play a French role; something he'd wanted to do for a while now.

When he looked down at the two drastically different scripts he knew which one he wanted.

"Hey Iz," Jace says, looking down at the two scripts while talking on the phone. "Would you be able to set up auditions for 'The Hero of Two Worlds' and 'Killers of the Flower Moon'."

"Yeah of course," she says. There's some sound of the phone shifting, so he assumes that she's rifling through her bag to find her diary. "Which do you want more?"

"Hero of Two Worlds," Jace says, flipping through the script in front of him.

"I thought you might chose that one," Izzy says. "They thought it was a long shot you'd even look at the script seeing as it was so outside any work you'd done before, but I knew."

"You know me too well Iz," Jace says, watching the script close.

"Anyway," she says, "I'll let you know when your auditions are."

"Thanks Iz," Jace replies, "love ya!" he says, hanging up the phone.

"Who else do you love?" Clary asks, as she puts books onto the shelf.

"Izzy - she's setting up auditions for a couple of movies," Jace says, handing a book up to her on the ladder.

"Oh yay! You excited?" she asks, slotting the book onto the shelf.

"Yeah, they both look good - and they're both being filmed in L.A," he says, looking up at her.

"You know I told you that shouldn't be a factor," Clary says, stepping down the ladder so she can look him in the eye. "Take on a role that excites you. I'm happy to follow you wherever you go. Or stay home if that's what you want."

"I know," he says gently, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "But we just moved in - we've barely moved in actually," he motions to the empty shelf, "and I want to be here. With you. And the role is perfect. I would've chosen it anyway."

Over the next week Jace has to go to a few auditions, and Izzy says that he has to hit the gym to start really toning his muscles, after he had to lose weight for the David Bowie movie. As a result, he was out of the house most of the day, leaving Clary alone trying to find small tasks to fill her day.

This included finishing moving into the house, cleaning the house almost everyday, organising gardeners, planning their wedding and cooking a nice meal for dinner every night. It also meant that she would sit around for the majority of the day, or wander around the house looking for things to do.

While they were eating dinner on Friday night, Jace points this out to her. "I can't help but notice… you seem kind of bored," he tells her.

"How so?" she asks, taking care to twirl some spaghetti around her fork.

"Well, you just seem to be filling your day with little task; and don't get me wrong, I'm really grateful for everything you've been doing. But I don't think you're really finding anything fulfilling these days," he says, trying to get her to meet his eye.

"I don't know… maybe," Clary says, refusing to look up.

"And I don't blame you. Your life's been so full on for the past five or six years; doing what you're doing must feel like almost nothing in comparison," putting down his fork.

"We did almost nothing on vacation for three months and I was fine," Clary says, finally looking up and dropping her fork into her bowl. "I don't see why now should be any different."

"Well… we were together in Greece - we did nothing together. And even then we'd go on hikes and swim and go to other islands, and do other things… we found ways to fill our time," he tells her, grabbing her hand gently.

"So what are you trying to say here? That I should go back to Greece?" she asks.

"Not at all," he says, laughing a little, "but just maybe… you could start writing again. And it doesn't have to be for an album!" he says quickly before she can interject, "I know you don't want to start doing that yet. But that doesn't mean you can't write. I know you love doing it, and I think it could give you something to do in your down time."

"Yeah, maybe you've got a point," Clary says, rolling her eyes when Jace gives her a superior look, "and maybe I could start looking into new management and a new label. Just to see what my options are."

"I think that's a great idea," Jace says, picking up his fork and eating his dinner again.

So that's how Clary ended up spending the next day sorting through emails Magnus had sent her about prospective managers and labels. According to the messages they all sent her, they each had something _new _and _truly unique_ to offer, but couldn't quite say what it was. And they would all be willing to work hard to keep up with her busy schedule. None of them seemed to realise that she didn't want a busy schedule anymore. And that she didn't necessarily need something unique - she would much prefer someone who understood her, and someone who was willing to help her get what she wanted and needed. Someone like Magnus.

And she didn't know if it was because she'd read his name too many times today, or if it was the memories that suddenly resurfaced, but she couldn't imagine having anyone but Magnus. She knew that he hadn't signed to anyone new yet; he'd worked just as hard as them for the past six years and needed a holiday too. Maybe, just maybe, he'd want to represent her again.

But it was more complicated this time - she had to think of Alec. Maybe he wouldn't want Magnus representing Clary. And maybe Magnus only wanted to manage bands.

Feeling clear headed for the first time today, Clary picks up her phone and dials Alec's number.

"Hey Alec," Clary says after he picks up. "How's everything going?"

"Hey Clary, everything's good," he says, perhaps sounding slightly caught off guard from the phone call.

"So, feel free to shoot me down. I'd totally understand - I promise. But I've had an idea," Clary says, subconsciously picking at her nail.

"Okay…" Alec says, sounding a little sceptical.

"It's to do with Magnus, but I want to hear your opinion on the matter before I ask him," Clary says, pacing around the room.

"Okay, shoot," Alec says.

"Well, I've been trying to find a new manager, and no one seems right for the job, and I really can't get the thought about how great a manger Magnus was out of my head," Clary says in one breath. "I guess what I'm asking is… what do you think about me asking Magnus to be my manager?"

Alec is silent for a moment, clearly thinking everything over, "well," he finally says. "I know I don't want him to be my manager; not that I don't think he was good. I just don't think it's smart to mix business and personal relationships. And I _would_ rather he represent you than some new prick."

"So…" Clary asks, not wanting to assume anything.

"I mean obviously he would still have to say yes, and it's not up to me at all, but of course. I would love it if Magnus represented you," Alec says.

Clary breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank you Alec. Thank you."

"Of course. I'll see you soon, Clare," he says, and then hangs up the phone.

Now all that was left was to convince Magnus. And Clary decided that should really be done in person, not over the phone.

When Magnus comes over the next day, Clary had gone out of her way to make sure that she had his favourite coffee and a selection of pastries that she knew he liked.

"Biscuit," Magnus says as they sit on Clary's back deck, looking out at the ocean, "what's all this about?"

"Alec didn't talk to you?" Clary asks.

"Not about you," Magnus answers, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Well I've been thinking, and reading through all the emails you sent me. While I'm super appreciative of all the work you've done… none of them seem right for me."

Magnus looks over at her and narrows his eyes, trying to figure out what's going on.

"And then after thinking about it more," Clary continues, "it occurred to me. I think none of them seemed right because I'm so used to _you_. You know that you don't need all these new and innovative ideas to be a great manager. And I know we get along great, and that you're doing the job because you genuinely care, not just for money or the exposure."

"What are you saying, Clary?" Magnus asks. He looked like he was catching on, but didn't want to assume anything.

"Will you be my manager?" Clary asks, looking him in the eye. "I've talked to Alec and he said he liked the idea. And really think being my manager would suit you; you'd know what you're getting yourself into. You would get bigger breaks because I don't want as intensive or a schedule as the band. There would only be one person to manage instead of four, which would mean that it would be less hectic, and you would get a bigger cut of the profits."

"You know I've always represented bands…" Magnus says.

"I get that. And if you genuinely want to keep doing bands, then I understand and we can end the conversation now," Clary says, refusing to break eye contact.

"It's not that I only want to represent bands… it's just. It's a different world, being a solo performer, and I don't know if I could get you everything someone else could."

"I don't want anyone but you. I know you'll do a great job. You know I'm driven and want to do the best job possible. I wouldn't ask you if I didn't think you could get me there."

Magnus looks at Clary for a while, clearly thinking everything over. Eventually he says, "okay biscuit. You've got yourself a manager."

Clary quickly jumps up and hugs Magnus. "Thank you!"

"Thank _you_," Magnus answers. "Now, I have to go, but we can organise a time to meet again and we can start planning everything out; there's still so much to do!"

Clary walks Magnus out of the house, and watches as he drives away. Finally some parts of her foggy future were starting to clear.

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Hope you enjoyed that chapter. Feel free to leave a review with any questions or comments about the chapter, or any suggestions for the story - everything helps! Hope you all have a great week, and I'll see you at the next one :)


	3. Chapter 3: It's All Coming Back

**Chapter 3: It's All Coming Back**

Hey everyone. Thank you for coming back for another chapter. I've tried to work some suggestions into this chapter, so if there's anything you want to see in this story, let me know and I'd be more than happy to include it. Enjoy!

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Jace and Clary had always wanted to live together; just to be together. However, they'd always assumed that they'd both be working when this happened. To clarify, they had always wanted to work at the same location for a prolonged period of time.

So now that Jace was filming, and Clary wasn't really doing anything, she felt that she'd been reduced to a housewife with no kids and no real drive to upkeep a house.

She would write music or paint every now and then, really whenever inspiration struck. She occupied the rest of her time by planning their wedding, cleaning the house or working out. Occasionally she'd go shopping for furniture, but it was something that she wanted to do with Jace, so she always felt guilty while doing it.

She would have hung out with her friends if she could have, but Simon and Izzy had gone back to New York, Alec and Magnus had gone on a holiday to Paris, and Kit had been travelling the globe since Royals for a Day, only coming home for a few days at a time. She had a suspicion that Simon and Izzy were thinking of moving to New York, but they denied it every time she brought it up.

Because everyone seemed to be moving on with their lives, Clary felt there was really nothing she could do other than start to plan her album. She was never one to get left behind, and she wasn't going to start now.

She was sitting on the kitchen bench flipping through her new song book that she'd been writing in for the past couple of weeks, and making notes on a big piece of cardboard in front of her; listing songs she thought could work on the album, potential themes and ideas. She even wrote down a couple of ideas for music videos.

This of course would all be more helpful if she had signed to a label. Magnus had been sending through bucket loads of emails every day from different labels that wanted to represent her, to help her produce her next album. To some, this would have been very exciting. To Clary, it was daunting. Make the wrong choice here, and everything else could go to shit. That was what happened last time. They'd all been too young and naive about the business, and too excited to get started to really understand what they were signing up for. Signing with the label they chose turned them into international sensations, but it also took away any chance to really live their teenage years, and took away a lot of flexibility with their music.

Clary assumed that her past experiences were causing her to be extremely careful about the label she picked. Too big and they would try to control everything. Too small and they may not have the experience or ability to do everything Clary wanted to. She had to find the perfect mix.

She had found a few smaller ones that she loved the sound of - they had had clients that smarted small, but then once they got big left the label in pursuit of something more glamorous, more known.

She had played around with the idea of investing into one of the smaller production houses, so that they could really build everything up and would be able to support her, but for some reason the idea rubbed her the wrong way.

Why bother investing when she could just make her own production company? She'd thought about this too; quite a lot actually. She'd brought up the idea with both Jace and Magnus, who both said they thought it was a great idea. But she didn't want to bite off more than she can chew. This was going to be her first solo album after all; did she really want the added stress of producing it?

Jace had said that she'd be able to manage it, and that he'd be here to help her, but she had pretty much made her mind up about the whole thing; it was too much to write, record and produce her first album by herself.

That was when Magnus brought up the idea of creating her own production company that worked in conjunction with a label. That way she could have a good amount of control over everything, but wouldn't have to so it all by herself. So Magnus had started contacting labels to see if they'd be willing to work with another, albeit smaller, production company.

Naturally, a lot of the bigger labels had said they wouldn't, so Clary was left to choose from a handful of smaller production companies, but a lot of them had done some good work.

One that really stood out to Clary was Institute Records. It was run by a married couple, with a few other people. They hadn't represented anyone as notable as Clary before, but everything that they produced seemed to be high quality, and in the general area that Clary wanted to head. Magnus had contacted them (and he'd said they were lovely people) and they said that they'd love to work with Clary and with her production company.

Magnus said that he'd arrange a meeting with them once he got back from Paris, and she could decide after that.

When she's decided that she's pretty much done with planning for the day, Jace calls her.

"Hey Jace, how's everything going," Clary asks him.

"Hey Clary, everything's good. I was just calling you to remind you that I won't be home till way later tonight because we've got a night shoot," he says.

"It's right here on the calendar," Clary says, pointing to square on their calendar in the kitchen, that did indeed say Jace was working late tonight. "I'll probably go to bed before you get home, but I'll see you in the morning."

"Love you Clary," Jace says, and she can hear someone talking to him in the background.

"Love you too, now get back to work," she says.

She hears him chuckle a little bit, and then hang up. She puts her phone on the bench and looks around the empty house, sighing. Guess she'd have to find something to occupy her time until she could go to sleep.

Jace closes the front door quietly and then takes off his shoes. He places them with his bag on the ground next to the dining table. All he wanted to do now was get into bed without waking Clary - he could put everything away in the morning.

He walks slowly towards their bedroom, trying to be as quiet as possible, but as he approaches the room, he realises the light is still on. He checks his watch quickly - it's way too late for Clary to be waiting up for him. Maybe she just fell asleep while she was reading or something? As he slowly enters the room, there's a lot to take in.

Clary is sitting in their bed, with the covers bunched around her waist and an iPad in her hand, with all the outside security cameras on it. There are a bunch of screw drivers and other tools on the floor next to the bed, along with his old baseball bat. As Clary looks up at him, he can instantly tell that she's been crying.

He shrugs off his jacket, before slowly sitting in the bed next to her.

"Hey Clare… what's wrong?" he asks softly.

"The door…" she says, her voice a little croaky.

"What about the door," Jace asks gently.

"It wouldn't lock. It was jammed or something and I tried to fix it but…" she says, fidgeting with the covers.

"Why did you need the door to lock?" he asks. At least the tools made sense now.

"Because… someone might come in," she says, frowning, and looking at the security cameras again.

Of course. How could he be so daft. A couple of months ago a man broke into Clary's house and tried to do things to her that made Jace's skin crawl and his gut fill with fire. Clary had managed it pretty well, but she'd slept with her bedroom door locked since then… that was until Greece. He'd assumed that she'd worked her way through it, but apparently not.

Not wanting to upset her, but wanting to know how to help her, he asks, "but what about Greece? You didn't need the doors locked then - we slept with them open in fact."

"We were on our own island," she says so naturally that it's clear to Jace she's gone over this hundreds of times before - probably justifying the action to herself. "We were on our own island, so no one could come in. And you were there. We were safe."

"You're safe now Clary," he tells her, slowly taking the iPad from her.

"Not if the door doesn't lock," she says, completely monotone while staring at the door.

"Clary, I thought you went to therapy, I thought things were getting better," Jace asks. He'd never seen Clary like this before, so emotionless. So stuck on one idea. It broke his heart.

"I did, for a little while. She told me I should do whatever I needed to do to cope - that meant locking the door. Then I stopped going because I got too busy with touring," she says, not taking her eyes off the door. "But it wouldn't lock tonight. And you weren't here. So I had to stay awake so I could protect myself." Her eyes quickly flight to the baseball bat - almost like she's checking it's still there, and then they go back to carefully watching the door.

"Well, it's late, and I think we could both use some sleep. So how about we sleep in one of the spare bedrooms tonight so we can lock the door. I'll be there to protect you if anything happens - which it's not going to. Then we can fix our door in the morning and talk about this all a little more."

Clary nods, finally looking away from the door and towards Jace. Her eyes are bloodshot, which Jace puts down to staring at the door, being tired and potentially the crying. He runs his hand through her hair, and then rests it on her cheek, wiping his thumb gently over her eyelid. He then slowly stands up and holds his hand out for Clary. He leads her towards the closest spare bedroom and into the bed, before quickly taking off his jeans and getting into the bed next to her. As soon as Jace gets into bed, he pulls Clary into his side and wraps an arm around her, trying to make her feel as safe as possible. It takes a little while, but eventually Clary drifts off.

When the alarm on Jace's phone alarm goes off the next morning, he gets out of bed and tiredly looks around for his jeans, so he can turn off his phone. It takes him a moment to remember everything that happened last night, and to understand why he's in the spare bedroom. He looks over to the bed, which Clary isn't in and sighs. He heads towards their bedroom hoping to find her there, but instead he just finds her pyjamas on the ground, telling him that she's already been here but it was just to get dressed. He quickly gets changed himself and then goes down to the kitchen, where he finds Clary sitting at the breakfast bar, eating and looking over a massive piece of cardboard.

He begins to make himself a cup of coffee, before turning to Clary. "What's that?"

"Just planning," she says, placing the card on the bench so he can see the writing that's on it.

"I think we need to talk about last night," Jace says, watching her face. He sees her furrow her brow so quickly that anyone else may have missed it, before she smiles up at him.

"Of course. How was filming?" She asks, resting her elbows on the bench and her head in her palms.

"Clary… I thought things were getting better," Jace says, getting straight to the point. "Why wouldn't you tell me if they weren't."

Clary folds her arms and drops her head into them, mumbling something into the bench.

"Clary look at me," Jace says, somewhat sternly. Clary slowly lifts her head to look at her fiance. "Tell me."

"I didn't want to bother you with it, okay!" Clary says, her pitch higher than normal. "It's something I can deal with by myself."

"Clary I want to help you. That's what I'm here for. You don't have to deal with this sort of stuff by yourself anymore," Jace says, gently, almost like he's yearning for something. For her to understand how much he loved her, and hated seeing her like this. How much he would give up to make her feel better.

"But you were filming and I didn't…" Clary starts, but Jace quickly cuts her off.

"I don't care if I'm filming. Or in an interview… or at an awards show. Whenever you need me, I'll be here. I'm only ever a phone call away."

Clary nods, but Jace needs to know the point has gotten across.

"Clary there is nothing I wouldn't do for you. When I proposed I told you that I would spend everyday trying to make you happy. The girl that I saw last night wasn't happy. She was scared. And stuck in the past. So I really think you should go back to therapy. And you should make it a priority this time. And I need you to know that whatever you need, whenever, I will do everything in my power to get it to you, or do it for you."

"I think that maybe I should go back to therapy too," she says, looking across at Jace, wondering what she did to deserve him. Jace nods at her, and then walks around the island to hug her.

"So," Clary says, once they've pulled apart from each other, "I've decided that I'm going to start my own production company…"

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Hope you liked that. Something things coming back from the past, and setting up some things from the future... As always, if you have any questions, comments or suggests please let me know! I'll see you all at the next one. Have a great weekend :)


	4. Chapter 4: Big Questions

**Chapter 4: Big Questions**

Hey guys, thanks for all of your lovely comments, they really help with the writing process. Also daughterofpercabeth417, I'm glad I could make your day, and would love to hear any more suggestions if you have them! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter.

* * *

It's been a busy few weeks for Clary and Jace. Not only had Clary started regularly going to therapy, she'd been hard at work beginning to set up her own production company so it would be able to co-produce her first album. She'd also met with Charlotte and Henry, the co-heads of Institute Records to find out more about their label and what the future had to offer with them.

She'd eventually signed a deal with them, and became the third member of Royals for the Night to sign a solo record deal. Kit had been first, and then Simon. Alec seemed to be taking a longer break, and Simon didn't look like he was actually going to put out any music any time soon.

They'd also started planning their wedding more intensely, making final decisions. Clary had bought her wedding dress, and they'd chosen a date and location. They ended up picking this great hotel in France, which they could completely book out and how a great barn for the after party. It meant that their guests didn't have to find anywhere to stay, and could party for as long as they wanted.

Clary started her morning with a quick workout, followed by a meeting where she was finalising the name of her company, as the lawyers needed to start doing the paperwork to get it set up and copyrighted. But her day was far from over.

Clary and Jace were sitting across from Izzy and Alec at a cafe. They'd decided that they wanted to ask at the same time; it just made sense to them to do it this way.

"Umm, so we have something we need to ask you both," Clary says, gently grabbing Jace's hand under the table. "We probably should have done it a while ago, but time just really seemed to get away from us."

"I think we both know where this is going," Izzy says, reaching across the table to take Clary's other hand. "Clary's pregnant. And you need to figure out how to hide it at the wedding. Well, I can't say I'm surprise-"

"Iz," Alec interprets, "I don't think that's it."

"Yeah it's really not," Jace says, but quickly looks at Clary, who shakes her head at him. "Yeah, Clary's not pregnant. What we _wanted_ to ask is… if, Alec, you'd be my best man."

"And Iz, if you'd be my maid of honour," Clary asks, smiling. Izzy lets out a shriek, and jumps out of her chair to hug Clary.

"Of course, of course, of course!"

"Really?" Alec asks, clearly shocked, "there's no one else?"

"I mean if you don't want to do it it's fine…" Jace says, a little caught off guard. He hadn't expected Alec to react as Izzy had, but he was hoping for a little more than this.

"No it's not that at all. I'd be honoured to do it… I just really wasn't expecting it," Alec says, looking genuinely moved. Clary didn't say so to Jace, but she was also a little surprised at his choice, but as the two stand up to hug each other, she can see that there's clearly more to the relationship than she ever knew.

"Well, we've got to go now, but thanks for everything, both of you," Clary says, standing and hugging both Alec and Izzy.

"Thank _you _both," Izzy replies. "Now shoo! We've got some parties to plan!" Any enthusiasm Alec had before drains out of him as he realises that he's about to plan a party with his sister.

"Now we've just got some phone calls to make, a few more people to meet with and it's all sorted," Clary says, smiling up at Jace as they walk out of the cafe and towards their car.

"Oh yeah, that's all!" Jace says sarcastically. He didn't understand how Clary go see everything as this small easy task, including planning their wedding.

"I'm going to call Luke in the car, so can you drive?" Clary asks. Jace nods back, so Clary tosses the keys over to him, and then gets her phone, dialling Luke's number.

"Hey kiddo," Luke says, answering the phone. "How's everything going?"

"Everything's good. How are you?" Clary asks, putting her feet up on the dashboard as Jace drives.

"Everything's running like clockwork. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I was hoping I could ask you a question," Clary says, playing with a piece of her hair and looking out the window, suddenly a little bit nervous.

"Go ahead," Luke says, and Clary can imagine the smile that is on his face.

"I'd wanted to do it in person, but with Jace shooting and me setting up production companies and signing with labels… I couldn't really find the time to go to New York," Clary says, stalling. Why couldn't she just ask. He wouldn't say no, surely.

"I'm sure you can ask over the phone just as well as in person," Luke says kindly. Obviously he would have loved to have seen Clary, but he understood that she was busy with everything at the moment.

"Well I kind of just assumed that you would, but then I realised that I should probably ask…" Clary says, quickly looking over at Jace who gives her an encouraging smile. "Would you give me away? At my wedding? You know, walk me down the aisle and everything?"

"It would be a true honour," Luke says, and he even sounds a little choked up. "But are you sure? Haven't you been getting close with your brother again?" As much as Luke wanted to be the one who walked Clary down the aisle and gave her away, he knew that there might be people who were more suited for the job.

"There is no one else I'd wanted doing it," Clary answers. "It would make the day infinitely better if I could share that moment with you."

"Then of course I'll do it kiddo. I'm honoured."

"I love you, Luke, " Clary responds.

"I love you too. And I'll see you soon," Luke answers, and then hangs up the phone.

Jace smiles across at Clary and rests his hand on her thigh.

"I take it he said yes?" Jace asks.

Clary nods back, but then realises he's probably not looking at her, so says, "yeah. He did."

"Would you mind calling Maxxie for me?" Jace asks, smiling across at Clary.

Clary calls the Lightwoods home phone, and put her phone on speaker so Jace can speak.

"Hi, Max Lightwood speaking," Max says as he answers the phone.

"Hey Maxxie, it's Jace and Clary ," Jace says, already smiling at the younger boys enthusiasm.

"Hi Jace! Hi Clary! Did you want to talk to mom?" Max asks.

"I wanted to talk to you, actually," Jace answers. "You know how Clary and I are getting married in a few weeks?"

"Yeah, mom keeps talking about how nice France is going to be. And Izzy wouldn't stop talking about it when she was here."

"Well I was thinking that you could be one of my groomsmen," Jace says, and then laughs as Max quickly responds with high levels of enthusiasm.

"Does that mean I get to stand up the front with you and Clary?" he asks.

"It sure does," Jace answers.

"I have to go tell mom!" Max says and then hangs up the phone.

"I think he's excited," Clary says, laughing while putting her phone back into her bag.

Before going home, they have one more stop where Jace asks Simon and Kit to be groomsmen, and Clary asks Magnus to be an honorary bridesmaid. She'd hung out with boys most of her life, so there wasn't really anyone to choose from outside of Izzy. And it really just made more sense for him to be in Clary's party than Jace's.

"So I was thinking," Clary says, sitting on the couch next to Jace, tucking her legs up "about my name."

"Oh yeah? _Clarissa Adele…"_ Jace says in his French accent, "très beau... I think it's a beautiful name."

"That bit I'm happy with," Clary says, shyly smiling at Jace. She'd been trying to figure out how to bring this topic up for a while now, but she was quickly running out of time.

"So it's the Fray bit you're questioning," Jace says with a knowing smile. He didn't want to push the topic or make any assumptions about what she was going to do - it's up to her what her name is.

"I was born a Morgenstern," she tells him. "But then after my parents passed and I signed with the label, I decided to change it. I thought that Morgenstern was such an unusual last name that it would surely be linked back to my dad, which I didn't want." Jace softly runs his fingers through Clary's hair as she talks. She'd gotten a lot better at opening up to him, but he could tell that talking about her parents was still painful.

"So I was going to change it Fairchild; my mom's maiden name. But then I thought that maybe that was still too close to my parents; I mean it' still a pretty unusual last name and everyone told me how much I looked like my mom, so if people found pictures of her, or any information about the car crash, I thought it would all be linked back to me."

She looks out the big sliding doors towards the sea for a little bit, and Jace gives her a moment.

Soon she begins talking again, looking back at Jace, "so I chose Fray. The 'f' from Fairchild, and then I kind of just made up the rest. Subconsciously I think it had something to do with the band 'the Fray'. I was really into them back then." She laughs a little at the thought, and Jace smiles back, knowing that she's in a much better place than when he first met her.

"But I have no real attachment to the name. It was just something I used to cover up my past. It was a fresh start," she says, finally getting to the point she wanted to make.

"So what does that mean?" Jace asks. It was pretty common for household names to keep their last name when they got married, so Jace had never assumed she was going to take his name. He'd really just assumed that nothing was going to change for either of them. And after hearing her explanation,he thought there was a chance she wanted to go back to Morgenstern, to have that connection to her parents again, especially now that things were starting to get a bit better with her brother.

"Clarissa Adele Herondale. Clary Herondale…" she grimaces a little bit, "doesn't exactly roll off the tongue." Clary could see how excited he'd become at the prospect of her taking his last name, and now he was trying to keep smiling, but she could see the disappointment in his eyes.

"I guess that's just the sacrifice I'll have to make," Clary says, smiling at him. His eyes light up, and his smile stretches larger, showing off his chipped tooth that Clary had always secretly loved.

"Really, you want to be 'Mrs Clary Herondale'?" Jace asks, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice.

"It's kind of sexy when you say it," Clary says, laughing a little. "But Magnus said that in public that I should really stay as Clary Fray - just because that's what everyone knows me as, and it would be really detrimental to change it. But legally, and where it matters to _me_, I'd love to be Clary Herondale. If you'll let me?"

"If I'll let you..." Jace says in disbelief, shaking his head. He leans forward and kisses his fiancee. Soon they were going to be Mr and Mrs Herondale, and that's all that seemed to matter to either of them.

* * *

I hope you all liked that. If you have any comments about the chapter, or any suggestions for the story please let me know, and I 'd be more than happy to work them in! Hope you all have a great week :)


	5. Chapter 5: Bachelors and Bachelorettes

**Chapter 5: Bachelors and Bachelorettes**

Hey guys, welcome back to another chapter. I hope you like it!

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"And why do I need to buy a dress?" Clary asks Izzy as they both sort through the dress racks. "I already own plenty of nice things."

"It's your wedding Clary! You're getting a new dress," the raven haired girl replies, clearly showing that Clary has no say in the matter.

"Look, I know you've been busy - there's probably a thousand things on your mind. But I already bought a dress - white, expensive. This must be ringing some bells…" Clary says, meeting Izzy at the end of the rack.

"Of course I remember your wedding dress - and I love it. But this is your bachelorette party, so you need to get a new dress so you can look super hot!"

"Right, I forgot who I was talking to. Apparently I need a different dress every time I step out of the house!" Clary says, dramatically draping one of the massive ball gowns over herself.

"You can never be caught wearing the same thing twice," Izzy says winking, "at least not when it's your own party…"

"Well if it's my party can you finally tell me what we're doing? That way I can know what kind of outfit to look for," Clary says, trying to persuade Izzy to break her love of secrets for her even bigger love of fashion.

"That's what I'm here for - I'll tell you if it's appropriate or not. Now… how about this?" Izzy asks, holding out a gold, silk mini dress.

"Really?" Clary asks, taking the dress from her. "You sure it's not too much?"

"You'll look drop dead gorgeous in it. Try it on! Please?" Izzy says, jumping up and down.

"Fine…" Clary says, turning and heading towards the dressing room, hiding her smile from Izzy. If she ever knew that Clary secretly enjoyed their shopping trips, she would never get out of one again.

A few hours later, both girls were leaving Izzy and Simon's house, in new dresses with their hair and makeup done by Izzy.

"Will you finally tell me where we're going now?" Clary pleads as they both sit in the back of a car.

"We're going to be there in twenty minutes… patience young one," Izzy says, tucking a strand of hair behind Clary's ear.

Clary sits back in a huff, looking out the window to try and figure out where they are heading. Clary had never been a big fan of surprises or, ironically, being the centre of attention. She had a feeling that there were going to be more than a few uncomfortable moments throughout the night.

"Am I allowed to know where Jace is?" Clary asks, bored of the silence.

"Nope, sorry. Alec wanted it to be secret as well. And anyway, this is your last night of freedom. No more thinking about Jace!" Izzy said, and then pulled a flask out of her bag.

Clary couldn't help but shake her head at the other girl, but accepted the drink when it was offered to her. Better she be a little bit loose by the time she got there.

"So I know you've left your partying days behind you, and honestly, I'm kind of happy about that," Alec tells Jace. "_But_… this is your bachelor party - so I really think it's quite fitting."

Jace, Alec, Simon, Magnus and Kit were all standing in front of a club which was already raging inside.

"I asked Izzy for some tips on what you like… hope this lives up," Simon says, before walking into the club. In all honesty, Jace had once thought he had had about as much fun as a person could. He would go out, get absolutely shitfaced, hook up with every hot girl that threw themselves at him and then do it all over again the next night. But since meeting Clary, he'd realised how wrong he was.

When they went out together, it didn't matter what anyone else was doing. Dancing with her - seeing her sweaty and smiling, dancing to the beat was like it's own kind of drug. He didn't need anything from his old life anymore; Clary was everything now. She made him feel everything. And he was happier and healthier because of it.

But he really couldn't blame any of the guys for tonight - clearly he used to like this sort of thing, and it was _his_ bachelor party - it's not like they could exactly invite Clary.

"What's going on over there?" Jace asks Magnus, having to yell over the loud music in the club.

"I'm not too sure - the place must have two parties booked tonight," Magnus says, and then hands him a shot.

"Bottoms up!" Kit yells, and everyone downs their drink.

The next hour or so goes like this. There were plenty of people at the club to help him party. Some were coming to the wedding and others weren't, but they were clearly all more than happy to help in celebration.

Despite the crowd full of people all there for him, he couldn't help but wish Clary was here, and hanging out with her, and now his, best friends was the next best thing.

"Come on Clary, don't just sit there! Dance!" Izzy yells, pulling Clary off the couch where she was having a conversation with someone.

"Sorry!" Clary yells at the girl she's being pulled away from.

Izzy handed Clary a shot, which Clary did, and then she was quickly pulled back onto the dance floor.

"Are you having fun?!" Izzy asks. Izzy had had several more drinks than Clary, and clearly was finding the whole night a lot more fun.

"Yeah," Clary yells back, not really knowing what else to say. She didn't really feel safe completely letting go and losing herself unless Jace was with her.

"Well you don't look like it!" Izzy yells, and then grabs both of Clary's hands so that they are dancing together.

"I hear we have a bride to be in the house tonight!" The DJ yells into the microphone. Clary can feel herself blushing, and is thankful knowing the flashing lights won't show it very well.

Everyone else cheers however, and the crowd parts, leaving a clear path between Clary and the stage.

Clary waves at the stage, but shakes her head, trying to tell everyone that she doesn't want to go up there.

Izzy grabs her hand and starts pulling her towards the stage, and Clary quickly grabs a shot of a waitress' tray who's walking past, before giving in to Izzy. There was no way she was going to win this.

There is a seat on the stage, which Izzy leads Clary to before hurrying off. Clary squeezes her eyes shut, praying that a stripper doesn't appear from somewhere. Thankfully, Izzy just comes back and places a tiara on her head. Maybe Izzy understood her a little more than she gave credit for.

"Hey, hey, hey!" The DJ yells. Jace turns towards the stage, where the DJ has his booth set up. "We got a man in here counting down the days until his wedding. Where is Jace Herondale?"

Everyone starts pointing towards Jace, and he waves at everyone.

"Let's get him up here!" the DJ says, and as Jace makes his way to the stage, people cat call and yell. Once Jace makes it to the stage, he does a few little mocking bows and blows some kisses.

He notices there is a chair in the middle of the chair, which he assumes he's meant to sit in. He didn't think that Alec and Simon would organise a stripper for his party, but maybe Kit had convinced him. He'd seemed really excited about the idea.

Instead of a stripper, Alec appears on the stage, holding a crown. He places it on his head, and then the wall in front of him starts moving. He thinks he must have drunk more than he thought, but after a little while he's sure - the wall was definitely moving.

After getting over the shock of it, he realises that it opened up to the party that he'd noticed before. And sitting on a similar stage far across the room was a little red head lady. Clary.

She must notice everything around the same time he does, because he sees her start to laugh, and then a big path appears before them, and they both get off the stage to meet each other in the middle.

"Hi," Clary whispers.

"Hey," Jace answers.

"Fancying seeing you here," she says, louder now.

Instead of answering, Jace bends down to quickly kiss her, and they both smile as they hear everyone around them starting to holler and yell. When they break apart, Jace says in her ear, "there's nobody else I wanted to see."

Clary kisses Jace on the cheek and then grabs his hand and pulls him to the side, out of everyone's focus so they can dance, and finally have a good time.

After a little while they head over to the bar, where everyone else is.

"How did you organise this?" Clary asks Izzy, who was holding hands with Simon.

"Well it's pretty obvious that you guys have the best time when you're with each other. So it wasn't hard to figure out that the best party we could organise meant bringing you two together," Izzy answers.

"But we wanted it to be a surprise," Alec adds. Magnus is standing very close by.

"And I found the club!" Kit says, pumping his eyebrows.

"Well we didn't come here just to talk - we could do that at home," Simon says.

In response, Magnus pulls Alec out onto the dance floor.

"Did I tell you how amazing you look?" Jace almost growls into Clary's ear.

"I don't believe you did," Clary answers, trying her best to look innocent.

"Let's just say, it makes me want to marry you even more - and I didn't know that was possible," he says, quickly kissing her cheek. "Except one thing…" he reaches out, and pulls Clary's hair out of the up do it was in. "There you go - now you're irresistible," he says, and grabs her hand and pulls her out onto the dance floor, where it's less obvious when he starts sucking on her neck and nobody can hear Clary squeal and laugh.

Clary and Jace wake up in their bed the next night, not exactly sure how they got there, or how the room got that messy, but knowing that they had an amazing time last night. Apparently most couples celebrate their last night of freedom, but Clary and Jace couldn't be more happy to give it up.

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Sorry that one was a little shorter... but the next chapter is the wedding and I promise it'll be much longer. I haven't finished writing the next chapter yet, so if there is anything you want to see at their wedding, let me know and I'll try to include it in the chapter! Have a great weekend :)


	6. Chapter 6: Wedding Bells

**Chapter 6: Wedding Bells**

Hello everyone and welcome back to another chapter. I hope you're enjoying the story so far, and like this chapter.

* * *

"Are you nervous?" Izzy asks Clary. Izzy and Magnus were standing behind Clary, and all three were looking at her in the mirror. She was wearing a sheath silk floor length dress, which had a cowl neckline and dropped to reveal most of her back. Her hair was down and in small waves, and was kept out of her face by a delicate gold headband that ran across her forehead and around her temples. She had wanted gold to be a feature colour of their wedding - not only was her headband gold, but the bands that held together all of the flowers, Izzy's dress (which she looked beautiful in, of course), and Magnus's tie and accents on his suit were also gold.

All of Jace's groomsmen were wearing gold ties and had gold pocket squares. There were gold stars all around the reception hall as well, which they had seen the night before. They shone beautifully in the moonlight, and the fairy lights and candles that were around the room, added to the sparkling effect. Everyone had asked Clary why she wanted to feature gold so much, and she had told them that she just thought it would look good, but it was actually because it reminded her of Jace.

"Are you alright biscuit? If you don't want to go through with this we understand - we'll go tell-" Magnus begins, but Clary cuts him off.

"Sorry, no it's okay. I just got caught up in the moment," she turns and faces them both. "I'm not nervous at all. Well that's actually a little bit of a lie - I'm nervous about the wedding, but not about marrying Jace."

"I still don't understand how you have _your _job and don't like being the centre of attention…" Magnus mutters. He then affectionately takes a small piece of Clary's hair and brings it in front of her shoulders. "Well you look absolutely stunning - you're glowing. There's no reason to be nervous."

Clary nods and picks up her glass of champagne and is about to finish the glass when Luke softly knocks on the door. Izzy hurries over and opens the door for him. He stops when he sees Clary, "Clary…" Privately, he was thinking about how much she looked like Jocelyn, but he didn't want to bring that up right now, "you look absolutely beautiful."

"Thanks Luke," Clary says, quickly stopping the tears that were about to fall. Really, it was stupid to be crying now, but she couldn't help it. Izzy had made sure all of her makeup was waterproof, but she didn't want to risk it right now.

"Well I've been sent to get you. It's time to get married, kiddo." He holds out his arm for Clary to take, and together they walk towards the church.

"You're looking sharp, man," Alec tells Jace, slapping him on the back.

"I'm feeling good," Jace says, quickly straightening the flower on his lapel.

"You nervous?" Kit asks, offering him a glass of champagne, which Jace declines. He'd decided not to drink until the reception.

"Not at all," Jace replies honestly.

"Well that's good to hear," Simon says, taking the glass of champagne that was intended for Jace. "You shouldn't be."

"Could I have a glass?" Max asks Kit, who agrees and is about to start pouring the younger boy a glass of champagne when Alec takes the bottle from him.

"He's twelve," is all Alec says, shaking his head. Kit just shrugs, and when Alec turns his back, he gives Max his glass to take a sip from. Max grimaces at the taste, and quickly hands the glass back. Jace who had seen the whole interaction but knew Alec wouldn't appreciate it only smiles, and winks at Max when he looks up at him.

There's a knock at the door, which Simon goes and answers. Jace doesn't know who's there or what's going on as Simon has a quiet conversation with the person on the other side of the door. He's about to demand to know what's going on, when Izzy steps into the room, and he's suddenly glad he couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Hello boys," she says, walking into the room. "Clary's left and it's about time you all did as well. Let's go get Jace married!"

All of the guys stand up, and Jace looks in the mirror one last time before following Izzy through the hallways and towards the church. Izzy tells him that Clary's in some secret room with Luke, so that no one can see her before the ceremony, but that Jace should greet some guests and in about twenty minutes he has to go stand at the altar.

Usually the best man and maid of honour would walk down the aisle together, and the rest of the groomsmen would walk the other bridesmaids down the aisle, but seeing as Jace's groomsmen seriously out numbered Clary's bridesmaids, and Magnus and Izzy were both dating other groomsmen, they decided to scratch all of that. Instead, Kit and Max would start at the altar with Jace, and Magnus and Alec and Izzy and Simon would walk together.

This all works seamlessly. The quartet starts playing Pachelbel's Canon and everyone stands, Jace's heart suddenly begins beating a little fast. It was finally happening. The moment he understood Clary, the moment he started liking her, he couldn't imagine spending his life with anyone else. And now it was finally happening.

Clary comes around the corner holding onto Luke, and Jace thought about how he always _knew _Clary was beautiful, but seeing her like this; in that dress and with her hair like that... He knew that all of that was lovely, but _Clary_, with that look of pure love at _him_… he'd never seen anything quite so beautiful before.

She slowly makes her way down the aisle, where Luke lifts her veil and hugs her, whispering something in her ear. She walks up a few stairs to meet him at the altar and hands her flowers to Izzy before finally facing Jace. Finally looking at him properly, and she smiles when she sees the tears in his eyes, and softly reaches up to wipe them away.

"Hi," she whispers to him. He'd teased her so much in the weeks leading up to the wedding about how much she was going to cry, and now that they were actually in the moment, it was him who was crying.

"I want to kiss you so much right now," he whispers in her ear.

Clary smiles at him, "patience, Herondale."

He smiles back at her and quickly kisses her on the cheek - it'd have to do for now.

The wedding runs smoothly. There's a little disappointed groan from the audience when it's announced that Clary and Jace are going to do their vows privately. They already had to share so much with the world; they wanted this to be between just them.

Everyone cheers as they kiss, and then they make their way back down the aisle into their own little room where they can do their vows privately before taking photos.

"I don't think I actually told you," Jace says after he closed the door, "but you look… I don't know the right word: angelic, radiant, stunning… nothing quite describes it."

"Why thank you, Mr Herondale," Clary says, grabbing his tie to pull him closed.

"It's my pleasure, Mrs Herondale," Jace says, smiling and leaning down to kiss his wife. _My wife_… Jace keeps thinking over and over.

"I think we should maybe do our vows before we get carried away," Clary says, smiling up at Jace.

"I think you're probably right," Jace replies, smiling back down at her.

Clary unfolds the piece of paper in her hands.

"I'm nervous" Clary whispers.

"Don't be - it's just me," Jace replies, kissing her on the forehead.

She can feel her heart beating against her chest. She takes a deep breath and then looks down at the piece of paper which has her vows written on it before smiling back up at Jace.

"Okay… there was a point in my life where I longed for death. And not in a depressed way or 'my parents are dead and my life is shit' way… it was... that I didn't think I'd be able to feel peace again until I'd died. But now…" Jace softly wipes a tear from her cheek, "I find peace in everything I do. Even if it's the most stressful thing I've ever done… or I'm so restless that I can't sit still for more than a couple of seconds - there's always an underlying peace. Because I love you, and I know you love me. Because I can picture the family we're going to have, and imagine the memories we're going to make and I know everything's going to be okay. So I vow to cherish the peace, and never take you for granted. To love you for the rest of my life, whether that be one more day or eighty years. I vow to help you find your own peace. I love you so much… and marrying you, I think, is our first step on the path to endless peace. No matter what we're doing, if we're together… then I know we'll find and feel that peace."

Jace can't help it, he bends down and kisses Clary, wrapping his hands around her waist and picking her up. Clary pulls back a little bit, so their noses are still touching and they can feel each other's breath. "Thank you," she whispers.

Jace gently places Clary down, and tucks a piece of hair back behind her ear.

"I guess it's my turn now," Jace says, and Clary nods back, laughing a little bit.

"I once read this quote… something about knowing you're in love because they sing a song only you can hear. I know you've sung a thousand songs to a million people… but I believe that there is one song you're singing to me only. Or maybe you were singing to everyone and I was the lucky one that got to listen. But your voice… your song… it pulled me out of a dark place. It pulled me onto the right path. And maybe it's a path of peace, and if that's what it is, then I'll be eternally grateful that I get to walk that path with you. Clary, _ma charmante femme,_ I will spend the rest of my life making sure I follow the path your song led me to. I'll try my hardest to give you everything you could want. To be the man you need me to be. To do whatever you need to make sure you're happy. I love you, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."

Jace gently wipes the tear from Clary's cheek, before kissing the spot it just was.

"I love you," Clary says, "so much…"

"I love you too, and I hate to say this… I really do. But we should really go. People are waiting, and as much as I'd love to stay in this little room and do naughty things, I think we should go."

Clary stands up on her tippy toes and kisses Jace on the cheek, before moving towards the door. She holds her hand out for Jace, and they go and face everyone together.

After taking hundreds of photos, heading inside to the reception hall and eating yummy food, and drinking great champagne it's time for speeches.

Simon is the first to stand up, and every turns to him as he begins his speech.

"Hi everyone, for those who don't know my name's Simon Lewis. I'm lucky enough to be a groomsmen tonight, and possibly best, but definitely longest friend of the bride. We met when we were four, at a dance class." Not a lot of people know Clary and Simon met, and everyone laughs, thinking he might be joking. "All the other four year old girls in that class had the exact same reaction as you all did just then - well, all except one. Little Clary Morgenstern - as she was known back then - marched up to me and told me that she didn't think it was funny I was in the class. If fact, she'd tried convincing her brother to join as well so that she would know at least one person in the class, but that she hadn't managed to do it. I asked what this meant, and she answered, quite simply, that it meant we were now best friends. Five year old Simon Lewis didn't want to say anything that might get rid of the only person being nice to him in the class, and today, twenty-three year old Simon Lewis is eternally grateful."

"As we grew a bit older, Clary and I would have sleepovers where we would watch movies, listen to music and I think most importantly, talk about what future we wanted. Both being about eight years old, we had the _unrealistic _and _foolish _goal of becoming famous musicians." Everyone laughs again. "We could talk all night about the amazing plans we had for the future, and how our lives would be better and bigger."

"As history goes," Simon continues, "we eventually, amazingly, made it. I asked sixteen year old Clary - now Fray, what her future looked like now. She admitted that it scared the shit out of her to look past the next day. That so much was happening, and so many people were relying on her that she just had to focus on doing today well enough, and then when tomorrow came, she could focus on that."

"I didn't know what to do - so being a seventeen year old boy I chose, what I now realise is the worst option, to do nothing, hoping that this problem would eventually sort itself out. She never brought it up again, so I assumed that it had gone away."

"But it wasn't until Clary started dating Jace that I actually saw her excited for the future again. That she could see the future, and it wasn't some scary, daunting thing, but something to look forward to - an exciting adventure that could bring bigger and better things."

"So I wanted to say thank you to Jace, for helping my best friend - now Clary Herondale, to find joy in her life again. I wish you two nothing but happiness, and hope the future is even better than you can imagine."

Everyone applauds Simon, and he sits down, patting Alec on the shoulder. Alec stands, looking a little nervous. "I definitely haven't prepared anything that beautiful or long," everyone laughs, "and in all honestly I'm a little nervous to be standing here in front of so many amazing people giving a speech about two people who I care about so much. But I'll give it a go. Clary. Jace. I couldn't think of a better match. I've known you two apart, and so I can say with full confidence that you're better together. You lift each other up, push each other to work harder, and love each other fiercely. And I know with you two together, there isn't anything you can't do, so I can't wait to see what impossible things you achieve. To the happy couple." Alec holds up his glass, and everyone follows suit.

Izzy stands up next, placing a hand on Clary's arm before she starts speaking. "Hi everyone, my name is Isabelle Lightwood. I'm here today as Clary's maid of honour, but on all other days I act as Jace's manager. And it's because of this role, that I can say with full confidence, that Clary has made Jace a better person," everyone laughs, and Izzy realises that what she said came out a little blunt.

"Gee, thanks Iz," Jace calls out, and everyone laughs again.

"That sounded much better in my head. What I mean, is that Clary has bought purpose into Jace life. It's like he has something to work for now. A reason to wake up everyday and go out and put good things into the world. I love you both so much, and I know you're both great people, but together you're amazing."

Clary stands up next, and isn't as nervous as she thought she would be, possibly because of all the champagne running through her system. "I wanted to keep my speech short and sweet tonight."

She's quickly cut off by Jace calling out, "just like you!" She gives him a loving, but annoyed look, but he just blows her a kiss.

"Jace, _rude _as he may be, already knows what today means to me, and I was trying to think of a way to tell all of you, and I think I may have figured it out. When I first met Jace, we were just two kids pretending to be adults. Pretending we knew what we were doing and that we already had figured out the secret to life."

"Now, even though we've done some adult things like buy a house and get married, I'm not afraid to admit that I'm just a kid. And knowing that I'll get to be with Jace means that I don't have to be scared to admit that I don't have the secret to life, because I know I have someone who will make it a crazy, but wonderful adventure finding that answer. So I wanted to thank you all for being here today, to help us celebrate the beginning of that adventure."

She kisses Jace on the cheek before he stands to give the last speech of the night. "As Clary, and maybe a few others in this room know, I'm usually pretty confident." Everyone laughs, and he smirks back at them all. "Okay, so maybe that's not such a secret. But it means that I can usually be sure of what I'm saying. So I was quite surprised to find that when I sat down to write this speech, I had no idea what I wanted to say."

"I decided to put this down to the fact that I haven't been a big wedding attendee, so I didn't really know what the groom was meant to say at this point of the wedding. So I watched a few videos on YouTube, just to find out the average sort of speech, so I knew exactly what I had to be better than."

"The thing I found, however, was that a lot of people would talk about 'love at first sight,' and how 'this has been the easiest decision of their life'. And I found that I couldn't really relate to that. Since starting to plan this wedding, I haven't been nervous. Standing at the altar today, I didn't doubt my decision for one second. But I think I can now reveal to you all that Clary and I did _not _like each other when we first met. I'd say we even disliked each other. But as time went on, we realised we had a horrible misunderstanding of each other, and as I learnt about who Clary really was, I couldn't help but fall in love with her."

"This relationship wasn't love at first sight. It hasn't been easy. We've had to work hard to get to this point. But there is no one else I'd want to be here with. I would give everything up and work every day until my hands bleed to be with Clary."

"So I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you for being with us, flying to France, to help us celebrate our love. Eat some food, drink some champagne, and then meet us on the dance floor. Have a great night everyone."

Everyone does their final toast, and goes back to talking, mainly about how wonderful all the speeches were.

Kit, who is MCing the reception, calls Jace and Clary to the dance floor so they can have their first dance, which is to 'Unforgettable', which is sung live by Sia. Everyone else joins them on the dance floor, and Clary dances with Luke, Max, Simon, Alec and Kit, before finding her way back to Jace.

After cutting the cake, and drinking a lot more champagne, everyone becomes looser on the dance floor, and nobody really notices when Clary and Jace sneak off to have a private moment. It was a night they'll never forget. A night they knew they could remember in tough times. A perfect night to share and celebrate their love.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed that. I know this story has been pretty drama free so far, but I promise some stuff is about to go down, after the next chapter :) Have a great week, and see you at the next chapter.


	7. Chapter 7: The Moon and The Stars

**Chapter 7: The Moon and The Stars**

Hello... welcome back to another chapter. I just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who has been reviewing on this story. It may not mean a lot to you, but it really means a lot to me. Anyway, let's get on with the story...

* * *

Because Clary and Jace were already in Europe, and they only had a week for their honeymoon before Jace had to be back in L.A. for shooting again; they decided to go to Italy. There were a few other options; to stay in France, go back to Greece, or even go to London. But Jace didn't want to go on a honeymoon in the country he was born. And while they had loved their time in Greece, they wanted to experience something new. And London had always seemed like more of a work destination than a holiday one to them, especially for their honeymoon.

So they decided on Italy. But they didn't want to do the major cities; they lived in L.A. after all, and usually travelled to the big cities in other countries to work. No, they wanted to see the countryside. So they rented a car and would take long trips, stopping at vineyards and markets, have picnics whenever they got hungry. Once they got tired, or found a destination they loved, they would find a hotel or bed and breakfast which had room and spend the night.

On the third night of their honeymoon, they stay at a vineyard which had two other couples, plus the family that owned it. It wasn't hard to find their own space in the endless maze of grapevines and olive trees. They were laying on the grass, looking up at the stars and the moon in one of their hiding spaces when Jace brought up the topic of their future.

It hadn't been planned, and Clary guessed it was kind of expected, but the future had been a massive theme at their wedding. Almost everyone brought it up; and it seemed exciting. Clary got excited each time she thought about it privately, but now, actually have to discuss it out loud with Jace… it was nerve wracking.

He obviously knew about most of her plans, but she didn't think he was aware of her timeline.

"Well," she says, rolling onto her side to look away from the sky and towards Jace. "I was going to start writing for my first album when we got home. We've pretty much moved in now, and I have no wedding to plan, so it seems like the logical thing to do."

"You know you don't have to do something just because logic dictates it," Jace tells her. She bites her lower lip, and turns back to the sky. "But," Jace quickly says, "if it's what you want to do, then I support you. 100%."

She rolls back over at him, smiling now. "Trust me. I've had my break. I'm ready to start working again."

"Well I'm glad to hear it. So, beginning work on your first solo album. It's a big year," Jace says.

"Well that's not all I want to do," Clary says.

"Oh no?" Jace asks, "do fill me in on the details," he says while wiggling his eyebrows.

"Well," Clary says, laughing. "I know I've talked to you about it before, but it's getting pretty real now. I'm going to start my own production company, and it's going to co-produce this album. I think it's the right move for me right now. And I think-"

"Clary, you know you don't have to justify it to me, right?" Jace says softly. "Like I told you before, I support you 100%. I like I told you on our wedding day, I'm going to do anything I can to help make your dreams come true."

"You're too good to me," Clary says, grabbing his hand. They lay in silence for a little while, looking back up at the sky. "What about you? What will the life of Jace Herondale entail once you've finished this movie?"

"Well," Jace says, taking a deep breath, "all your talk about starting a production company has really inspired me."

"Oh yeah?" Clary asks.

"And I was thinking. Maybe I'd start one of my own. You know, to produce movies. Maybe even, eventually write screen plays and direct. I don't know," he says, sounding doubtful. "I've always been interested in everything that happens behind the camera, and even the stuff that happens before filming starts."

"I think it's a great idea," Clary says, kissing his hand. "And I think you'll be amazing at it."

"Really?" Jace asks, squeezing Clary's hand.

"Truly," she responds. Jace lets out a sigh of relief. He was so afraid that everyone would only think he was good enough to act. "I believe in you so much, actually, that I have a proposition…"

"You intrigue me," Jace says with a playful smile.

"Well," Clary says, smiling back at him nervously. "You want to start a production company, I've already got one in the works. Why don't we just… merge them. I've already been thinking about opening recording studios all over the world. We could just buy slightly bigger places and then you can run a movie production company from the same place. I don't know… it just makes sense to me for us to work together."

"That sounds…" Jace says, looking back up at the sky, "perfect. I don't know how I didn't think of it earlier."

"You really want to? You don't just have to say you do," Clary asks.

"I really want to. We'll plan everything later… but it sounds," Jace tried to think, but there really wasn't another word for it, "perfect."

"Well then Jace Herondale," Clary said, "welcome to Morning Star Entertainment. We're very happy to have you."

"Is there a welcoming gift at all?" Jace asks.

Suddenly, Clary was straddling him, her face blocking his view of the stars. "Only for some employees," she whispers.

"Well I should hope so," Jace replies, smirking.

On the fifth night of their honeymoon, they were staying in the home of one of the winemakers on a vineyard while they were away. The owner had told them to drink and eat as much as they pleased, and they took him up on his offer.

They were sitting on a couch in front of a fire after eating a hearty pasta meal. They were more than a little tipsy. Clary was running her belly, which had grown in size due to the large meal.

"I've got a food baby," she moans out, stretching out a little more on the coach.

"Oh yeah?" Jace asks, looking down at her stomach.

He stares at it for a while, and it brought out of his train of thought by Clary asking, "why are you staring at my stomach, it's not actually that bad, is it?"

"No, no. It's beautiful," Jace says quickly leaning down to kiss his wife's stomach. "I was just thinking about what it'll be like when it's a real baby in there."

"Oh," Clary whispers, looking down at her stomach. They had talked about wanting kids before, but they'd never really talked about when.

"Not for a couple of years, probably," Jace answers. "We've both just got so much coming up… it would really be a spanner in the works."

"What do you think they'll be like," Clary asks, rubbing her stomach, almost forgetting there isn't a baby inside.

"Well," Jace says, clearly thinking, "I think we'll have three. Two girls and a boy. One of the girls will be really good at music, and the other will be sporty."

"And what about the boy?" Clary asks, being wrapped up in Jace's dreams.

"Oh… he's going to be an actor for sure. And he's going to look just like me," he says, smiling at the fire, clearly lost in thought. "One of the girls will look just like you, and the other girl will be a blend. Blonde hair and green eyes. She'll be tall, but have your pale skin. They're going to be perfect."

"Wow," Clary says, wiping a tear away. "Well, it's probably a good thing I'm not pregnant right now."

"Yeah, I know. Timing's a bitch," Jace says, smiling over at Clary.

"I was just going to say it's because I've drunk so much wine tonight," Clary says, laughing. Jace starts laughing as well, and they move on from the topic. But Clary would never forget the night they planned out their dream family.

* * *

Sorry this one's a little shorter again - I was running low on time! Anyway, I hope you liked it. Feel free to leave a review with any comments about the chapter, or suggestions for the story. As promised, there's some drama in the next chapter, so come back for that! Have a great weekend :)


	8. Chapter 8: Rough Seas Ahead

**Chapter 8: Rough Seas Ahead**

Hello everyone. Thank you for coming back for another chapter, and for all of your lovely reviews. I hope you like this one... it's a little bit different to past couple of chapters!

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It had been about a month since Clary and Jace had gotten back to their life L.A. after their honeymoon. Jace had to get straight back to work, and Clary had started seriously writing and recording for her new album. Despite their busy schedules, they made sure that they ate breakfast and dinner together everyday, and Clary would go visit Jace on set every few days.

Clary was currently sitting in the head of productions' office in the main building of her new recording studio. She was joined by the head sound engineer who she'd been working with, and the head of the studio. Clary had her head buried in her hands, and occasionally ran her fingers through her hair in annoyance as they all listened to the latest song she had recorded.

When the song finished, she looked up at the three faces staring back at her. They didn't necessarily look unhappy, but it wasn't the look she'd hoped for, or the look she was used to.

"I'm sorry," Clary says to them, running her fingers through her hair one final time before standing up, not being able to handle having to stay still any longer.

"Why are you sorry - it's a good song," Charlotte, the head of the studio, says.

"The production of the song is great," Clary admits, "but the song itself isn't. It's the same as everything I've produced before. Everything I've managed to write sounds the same as everything I've ever written!"

"Is that really a bad thing?" Charlotte asks. "I mean, you've been highly successful up until now. Does everything have to change?"

"If I'm not changing the music at all then why break up the band? Why bother going solo?" Clary snaps back at Charlotte, immediately followed by "I'm sorry. I'm just… frustrated with myself."

"I know," Charlotte says softly. "And it's okay. This is all new for you. A new environment, with new people… it's going to take some getting used to."

"I know," Clary says quickly, clearly not accepting that. "It's just… this whole process - writing and recording. It used to be so procedure. Easy. I don't know what's happened."

"Well maybe," Henry, Charlotte's wife and head engineer at the label, says, "that's the problem. Everything has been procedure for so long that you have some formula down pat for writing a hit and doing it quickly. Maybe we need to break procedure. Throw you into the world and see what you come back with."

"Maybe…" Clary says, unsure.

"When's the last time you remember being completely on your own. And not just for an hour or two here or there. For a prolonged period of time. Where you could just focus on you?" Henry asks.

It takes Clary a while to think. It was when she ran away from everything, well over a year ago now. When she fled to New York to deal with the release of the news of her parents. And even then a good majority of that time had been taken up with finding, and then dealing with Jon. "Just over a year ago," is all Clary answers.

"Okay, and before that?" he asks again.

Clary racks her brain but can't think of another time. Maybe it didn't have to be a time she was alone… maybe just a time when people weren't relying on her. That would've been… just before her dad died, when she was thirteen.

Taking her prolonged silence as a sign, Henry says, "See! You need to go out into the world and discover who Clary Herondale really is."

"Clary," Charlotte says, taking over from her husband, "I believe there are two people inside of all of us. The person you show to everyone else; the happy smile you put on so other people don't worry. Hiding away the secrets to present a polished image of ourselves. And then there's the person that you can be when it's only you." She pauses for a moment to let Clary think this all over. "You have to be alone to find that person."

Clary does think this all over, and it all makes sense to her, except, "what does any of this have to do with my music?"

"I think music is a great place to let those two people cross over. To be vulnerable. To tell your truth," Charlotte says.

"So what are you suggesting?" Clary asks, looking at the other people in the room. No one had ever given her writing advice like this before and it was throwing her. Usually it was something along the lines of locking yourself in a room until you could write a song.

"We're saying to take a break. Get out of L.A. Go travel. Be by yourself for a while and find that person whose been buried deep within you for so long. Write about what you find. And then, once you're ready, you can come back and we can give this all another go."

"You mean I can… take time. Don't I have a deadline?" Clary asks, clearly confused with the level of freedom she was being given.

"It's more important that you're writing music you're happy with. And if that means taking some time to find yourself then, so be it. While you're with Institute Records, we want you to be real and open and raw. And that's hard; we get it. So we're going to help you in any way that we can."

"Right," Clary says, in a bit of a daze. "Well that sounds good. I guess I'll go travel for a bit… find myself and all that." She picks up her bag that was sitting next to the chair she occupied at the beginning of the meeting and heads out the door.

"Take as long as you need Clary. We'll be here when you get back," Charlotte says.

"Okay," Clary says, still amazed. Is this what it could have been like all those years in the band? "Thank you both so much."

They nod at her, and Clary goes out of the building and down to her car. She drives home, and walks into the house, the whole time thinking about what this meant and what she was supposed to do.

"Hey babe," Jace says. Hearing his voice seems to snap her back into reality. What was she meant to do about Jace? Could she really leave him? "How was your day?"

"Ummm," Clary says, feeling overwhelmed, "it was… it was good. How was yours?"

"Yeah it was alright," Jace says quickly. "Clary, what's wrong?"

She finally looks up at him. His brow is furrowed and he's beant down a bit to get closer to her eye level. "Nothing," she says, trying to smile at him. "I'm fine."

"No, I know you. What's up?" Jace says, not taking his eyes off his wife.

"Just a weird day," Clary says, trying to busy herself by making a cup of coffee.

"Weird how?" Jace asks from across the kitchen bench.

"Umm… I'm not really happy with the music I'm making at the moment," Clary says, watching the coffee slowly drip into the mug.

"Well you're just getting back into it," Jace says, making his way around the bench. "I'm sure you'll figure out a way to fix it."

"That's the thing," Clary says, not taking her eyes of the mug in front of her. She had no idea of knowing how Jace was going to react to what she was about to say. "They told me how they think I can fix it."

"Okay, so just do that and you'll be good to go," Jace says as if the answer is obvious.

"It's not that easy," Clary says, holding her hands around the mug, feeling comfort in the burn.

"How so?" he asks, making his way in front of her.

"They think I need to travel. To go experience new things," Clary says, with tears starting to form in her eyes from the burning sensation in her palms, but she doesn't put the mug down.

"Right..." Jace says, but he doesn't sound nearly as concerned as Clary thought he would. She finally looks up at him, and sees that he's smiling back at her. "I mean I don't finish filming for a few weeks, so you can just wait for that. Or if you really want to go now, I can fly out and meet you every-now-and-then, and then just join you when I finish.

Her eyes slowly shut and she hangs her head. He doesn't understand.

"Ummm," she says, not sure how to actually say it.

"What is it?" Jace asks, slight concern now evident in his voice. He gently rests his hand on her shoulder.

"They think… I should go alone." Her hands have become numb by this point, and the tears were beginning to fall for a different reason.

"And you want to?" Jace asks. She could feel the tension in his hand, and hear it in his voice.

She slightly nods her head, but it's enough for Jace. He quickly takes his hand off her shoulder, folding his arms.

"Look at me Clary," he says, not gently. She slowly looks up at him, and can see the pain all over his face. "How long would you be gone for?"

"I don't know," Clary says, her voice coming out weak and shaky. "For as long as I need I guess."

"And when would you leave?" he asks, equally as harshly.

"I'm not sure," Clary says weakly. She clears her throat before continuing, "as soon as possible. Tomorrow, if I could get a flight."

"Clary, we just got fucking married! This is not what married couples do. They should want to spend all their time together. To adjust to their new life. I turned down roles all over the world so I could be here with you."

Clary takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "I told you you could go anywhere."

"Yeah but I chose to stay in L.A. In our new house, to spend time together as newlyweds. That's what I thought we both wanted," Jace says, starting to walk away from her.

"I didn't know I wanted this until they told me," Clary says, desperately trying to make him understand. "Jace, I _need_ this."

"Why, what's not good enough for you here?" Jace asks, pain showing all over his face.

"It's nothing to do with you Jace," Clary says, desperately wanting to rush over to him and hug him, kiss him - make him feel better. But she knows she's the one doing the damage, and so it wouldn't be fair to go over to him now. "I need to write music, and find a band. Experience and see new things."

"Why can't you do that with me?" Jace says, starting to calm down. He thinks she's going to change her mind, but Clary was sure about this. "I get it, sometimes everything can feel so confining, and it feels great to go out into the big world to see how much there is outside of your own life. But we can do that together Clary."

"Jace I need to do this alone. It's about more than just the music," Clary says.

"Then what else is it about, Clary?" Jace asks desperately. "Help me understand this."

Clary thinks about how she could word it, how to explain everything that was going on inside her head right now, but can't think of any way. Instead, she says, "I don't know how to explain it, but you need to trust me. This has nothing to do with you."

"Does it have anything to do with our relationship?" Jace asks, clenching his jaw.

Clary just looks back at him, knowing he's not going to like the answer.

"Am I still going to have a wife when you come home?" He asks, getting angry again.

"Of course you will Jace - I love you. And nothing I see out there convinces me otherwise. But I need to sort some things out, and I need to do it alone."

"So this is it - I don't get a say at all. You're just going to leave?" Jace asks roughly.

"I need this, Jace," Clary says, her voice coming out a little stronger. There was more behind it - this sudden need to leave. She'd been convinced out of these sorts of thoughts before, and she wasn't going to let it happen again. She had to get away for a little while, even if it meant hurting him.

"Whatever," Jace says, turning away from his wife and storming towards the spare bedroom. She flinches as she hears the door slam, and some of the coffee spills out of the mug and onto the floor.

"Fuck," Clary whispers, breathing heavily to try to stop any tears from falling. She finally puts down the mug, and stares down at her scalding red, shaking hands.

* * *

So... what do you guys think. Do you think Jace has a right to be angry? What do you think Clary's other reasons for leaving are? Let me know! Hope you all have a lovely week :)


	9. Chapter 9: How to Cope

**Chapter 9: How to Cope**

Hey guys, thanks for coming back to another chapter, and for all of your feedback on the last chapter! I really appreciate everything you guys tell me, as it really helps me write the story in a way I know you'll like. In saying that I would really appropriate if you could read and respond to the question at the end of the chapter. Anyway, on with the story!

* * *

Clary waits up a while longer, just hoping that Jace will come back out of the spare bedroom to talk to her. To figure out why she wants to leave. To not be angry at her, even though she knows she deserves it.

She knows that it will annoy him more if she goes into the spare bedroom. When Jace was in this type of mood, you had to wait for him to come to you. She decides to go to sleep in their own bedroom, knowing that a night of sleep will do them both some good. When they had clear minds in the morning, they would be able to discuss it. Clary can't help but get her hopes up as she's falling asleep, thinking about Jace sneaking in during the night and waking up next to him. Even though she knows it can't happen because the door is locked.

Despite this, she still feels her heart drop when she wakes up alone the next morning. She shakes it off - of course they didn't wake up together. She goes to the kitchen and makes them each a mug of coffee and a bowl of muesli, yogurt and berries. She loads it all onto a tray and heads to the spare room Jace slept in last night.

Clary usually woke up before Jace, so she wasn't surprised to find the door still shut. After some careful manoeuvring of the tray, she is able to open the door, only to find the room empty. She places the tray down on the credenza, and quickly checks he's not in the nearby bathroom before checking the draw that has all their car keys in it. One of the sets for Jace's car is missing, and Clary assumes he's left early for work.

Clary goes back to the spare room and carries the tray to the kitchen, tipping Jace's coffee down the sink and emptying his bowl into the bin.

As she's washing the bowls up, she thinks about following him to work. They're going to have to talk about this at _some_ time, but she figures that it's probably not best to do it at work. Or to pretty much stalk him there. Instead, she sighs and places the bowls onto the drying rack before calling Magnus.

"Okay, so it was pretty last minute, but I was able to get you out on a 1.00 to-" Magnus begins right as he picks up the phone.

"I'm really grateful, Magnus," Clary interrupts, "but I'm not going to be able to leave today."

When Clary knew she wanted to leave, she called Magnus and asked him to start arranging travel plans for today. She didn't expect Jace to jump for joy at the news, but hadn't expected this either.

"What's wrong, biscuit?" Magnus asks.

"Ahh, Jace didn't exactly react the way I was expecting. He really doesn't want me to go, and I don't feel comfortable leaving right now. I'm going to have to delay or something," Clary says, trying to play it off cool.

"Delay until when?" Magnus asks more seriously. She sounded so excited yesterday on the phone. He'd seen Clary put others before herself so often, he was just hoping it would stop with the solo career.

"Until he's okay with it I guess. If he's ever okay with it…" Clary trails off.

Jace had indeed gone in early to work, just spending time in his trailer running over everything until he was called to the costume department.

The first thing he had to do everyday was hair and makeup - mainly making his skin a bit lighter, his cheeks rosier and wearing this short haired white wig. Izzy is sitting in the seat next to him as he's having this done.

He was trying desperately not to give away how bothered he was at the moment, but his short answers and quick temper give away that something is wrong pretty quickly.

"You know you should really just tell me what's wrong," Izzy says, "I give really good advice."

"Nothings wrong, Iz," Jace replies, getting out of the makeup chair and heading over to the costume department to get dressed. Izzy follows closely behind him.

"Is it something to do with Clary?" Izzy asks. Jace doesn't answer, only clenches his jaw, so Izzy takes this as a yes.

"You know you should really just tell me. Otherwise I'll make Simon go talk to Clary, and then _he'll_ tell me everything. And let me tell you, Simon might be a great story teller, but he's not big on the facts, so I really think it should come from you."

"Fine," Jace whispers, watching the costume lady walk out of the room out of the corner of his eye. Once she shuts the door, Jace turns to Izzy.

"She wants to go _travel_," Jace says, unable to help the about of spite he puts into the last word.

"Okay… I'm failing to see the problem here," Izzy says. "I thought you two travelled well together."

"So did I," Jace says angrily, "but apparently she'd rather go by herself." His voice breaks a little bit, and he tries to clear his throat, but Izzy can see how defeated he is. His shoulders are slumped in, he's looking at the ground, and he keeps clenching and unclenching his jaw. "I just don't understand… we only got back from our honeymoon a couple of week ago, and everything's been great. Or so I thought. But she just came home yesterday with these grand plans to travel the globe and leave me behind."

Izzy rests her hand on his shoulder, but lets him keep talking. "I just don't want to get left behind Iz. I don't want her to discover this great big world and forget me."

"First of all," Izzy says kindly, "that's never going to happen. You _are_ Clary's great big adventure. You have a right to be angry - it's a sucky thing she's doing, but Clary knows that. And she wouldn't be doing it for no reason. I know it's hard, but you've got to try and see if from her perspective."

"It's all about her music," Jace says, becoming angry again. "I get that it's important, but she should want to leave just because of her music. I didn't leave to film!"

"Even if she's not saying it, there's got to be more behind it all. There's no way it's just because of her music - otherwise you would be able to go with her. I'm not saying she wants to break up with you or anything like that," Izzy quickly adds at Jace's alarmed expression. "What I'm saying, is that after you've finished filming today, you need to go home, and sit down and talk it out. I know it's hard, but you can't always run away."

"I guess you do give good advice, sometimes," Jace says, lightly punching Izzy on the arm. He could only hope that Clary hadn't left already.

"I told you," Izzy replies, grinning up at him.

When Jace pulls into their garage later that night, he sits in the car for a while, just trying to hype himself up. Usually, he was quite confident - he knew what he wanted to say, and normally how others would respond. But he was never sure around Clary. She was constantly surprising him, and that was just one of the many reasons he loved her. But he forgot that not all surprises are good. He takes one final deep breath and gets out of the car and quickly walks into the house, not giving himself a chance to turn around.

Clary must have heard the garage door open and shut, because she's waiting for him on the other side of the door that connects the house to the garage. It also probably means that she also knew how long he just sat in the car for.

He wanted to be calm and respectful, but he says, "I thought you were leaving today," harshly, and regrets it the minute he sees the hurt on Clary's face.

"No," she replies. "Not when where like this."

"Well, what else did you expect Clary?" he asks, "did you want me to be excited that you were leaving?"

"No," she answers again. "I don't know what I was expecting. And I'm sorry that I hurt you. That's the last thing I wanted to do."

Jace moves towards her and grabs her hands. "Then help me understand. Help me understand why you want to do this."

"Honestly, I don't know the real reason. But I just have this gut feeling that something is wrong, and I need to figure it out. I know the timing sucks, but this is what I need to do right now. And I promise I'll explain everything when I get back," Clary practically pleads.

"It's hard," Jace replies, "not knowing the reason. But I vowed to make you happy, whatever it took. And if doing this will make you happy, then I need to let you go. And trust that you'll come back to me."

"I'm not going to go if you're not okay with it," Clary whispers. "I can figure out everything from here." She smiles up at him, but Jace can see how hard it is for her. This is a forced smile, with hidden disappointment underneath it. He'll figure out a way to cope with it all - like he told her, he vowed to make her happy. And he wasn't going to break his vows any time soon.

"I'm okay with it. I promise. I really think you should go - for as long as you need to figure everything out. Because I know you'll be better when you come back, which will make me better and us better. Please go Clary."

"Are you sure," Clary asks. She looks like she's trying to not let her hopes get up, but Jace can already see how much happier she looks, and it makes it so much easier to reply.

"I'm certain."

* * *

Okay... I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I wanted to ask you all something about my updating scheduled. I'm back at uni now, and I don't have as much time to work on this story, so I want to know; would you prefer two shorter chapters a week, or one longer one. I'm happy to do either, I just can't really commit to doing two longer at the moment. Please let me know what you would prefer! I hope you all have a great weekend :)


	10. Chapter 10: You've Always Got a Friend

**Chapter 10: You've Always ******Got****** a Friend**

Hey guys, thanks for coming back for another chapter. Just a quick note before we get into it; at the end of the last chapter I asked if you'd rather have two shorter chapters a week, or one longer. From the responses I got, I'm going to start going with one longer, just because I don't have the time at the moment to commit to two longer chapters. I'll get back to it as soon as I can, but from now on I'll only be updating on Tuesdays. Thanks for all your understanding! On with the chapter...

* * *

Clary leaves the next morning. It's not easy for her to leave Jace, or for Jace to let her go, but deep down they both know that this is what's right. While Clary could go literally anywhere in the world, she decided to go to Hawaii first. She'd always been envious of kids in her class who would come back from summer vacation and talk of nothing but their holiday on the island.

She'd decided she was going to go once she was old enough and had enough money, but her busy schedule stopped that from happening. Outside of fulfilling her childhood dreams, she wants to be able to be at one with nature; slow down for a little while and appreciate everything around her.

When she gets to her little house later that day, the first thing she does is go out onto the deck and sit in a rocking chair for a while, just watching the world go by.

She fills the next few days by swimming, going on hikes and paddle boarding, not necessarily avoiding other people, but sticking to herself where she could.

As much as she doesn't want to, she frequently thinks about Jace. What he might be doing, if he was really okay with her going, what he thinks about her now. They'd agreed to only call each other if something had gone wrong, so they hadn't talked since he dropped her off at the airport.

After her dad died, Clary's mind used to wander into dark places, and there were only two things that helped to get her out. The first was getting together with all the guys and either trying to write music, or 'jamming' as Kit liked to call it in Simon's garage. Since she couldn't exactly do that now, she had to go for the other option; running.

She used to run until she couldn't breath, pushing herself harder and harder until it felt impossible to take another step.

As if driven by some outside force, Clary slowly gets up from the chair she was sitting on and gets changed into clothes more suitable for running. After putting on socks and shoes, she goes outside and onto the road and just begins running.

She didn't bother bringing any headphones, so she was running listening to nothing but the trees, the birds, the water and her own breathing.

The further she runs, the more she can feel her worries just melting away, as if being left on the path behind her. She reaches a hill, and just pushes herself harder to run to the top. She's fitter now than when she was a child, and able to push herself harder and faster.

When she finally reaches her breaking point, she sits down in the grass on the side of the road, just panting for a while, trying to catch her breath. At some point, she lays down in the grass and watches the clouds lazily drift across the sky, unburdened by any problems the people below them may be facing.

When Clary's satisfied that she's caught her breath, she slowly stands up and begins making her way back to the house, not feeling the need to push herself nearly as hard.

Maybe it was because she now had a destination instead of a never ending road in front of her, or it could have been that she felt like she was picking up the problems she'd dropped along the way, but she suddenly felt the burden on her again.

There was no way she'd be able to run forever; it was better to face it now and figure out where it was coming from. By the time she got back to her house, the sun had set and she was no closer to figuring out the solution to her problem than when she'd left the house.

Why was it that running seemed to get rid of the problem? If even just for a moment? Sure. it distracted her, and there was a release of endorphins, but that couldn't be it.

Was it that she felt like she was running away? She sat down and tried to think of a few times that it'd helped her in the past; it started after her dad passed. But then she'd become too busy and didn't really have time to run anymore until after her mom had passed away, and she'd kept doing it after her brother left.

And suddenly something clicked. Clary liked running because it meant she could leave the people who'd left her. The need to run intensified each time someone left; she'd crave the burning in her chest and the pain in her legs because she thought the physical pain was a distraction from any other pain she might have been feeling. But when it came down to it, she liked having the control of being the one left.

And as much as Jace had promised he wasn't going anywhere, it was a promise that Clary just couldn't trust anymore, because people only had a certain level of control over whether they stay or go.

Her dad always promised that he would come home. Her mom promised she wasn't going anywhere for a long, long time. She knew her parents didn't want to leave her, but they didn't have a choice.

It was almost like some part of Clary was begging her to leave Jace, just for a little while so she could prove to herself that she could survive without him. Losing her dad hurt, but losing her mother and brother in the same week had nearly killed her. And there was a possibility that losing Jace would do the job.

She had to take this time away from Jace to prove to herself that losing him would not kill her; she needed to know she could survive without him.

With this new found explanation as to why she had to leave in the first place, Clary picks up her phone to call Jace and explain everything to him, but stops. It wouldn't be fair to call him now. Not when she knew she wasn't coming home. She'd left Jace with the intentions of writing music, and she hadn't even begun to do that yet. And this sort of thing; the realisation she'd had, was probably better to tell him face to face anyway.

Despite having written no music yet, Clary felt that Hawaii had served its purpose, and she was in want of a new destination.

Another place she'd always wanted to visit was Japan. She'd been there on tour a few times, but she'd never had the opportunity to actually explore the cities and experience the culture. It was also a place she felt like she'd be able to blend into the crowd and meet new and interesting people.

She's been in Tokyo for a couple of days, just seeing the sights and finding hidden gems around the city. She'd even started writing; probably nothing she would actually use in her album, but it was a start.

She wakes up the next day, with no real plan of what the day was going to contain. She rolls over to check her phone, and sees that she has a few texts from Kit. She's about to read through them when his face flashes up on her screen.

She answers the call. "Hello?" she asks, yawning.

"Clary. I'm in the lobby but they said they're not going to let me up without your 'permission', so you've got to come down and get me," Kit says rather quickly, sounding rather annoyed.

"As in you're in the lobby of my hotel in Japan?" I ask, completely confused.

"Yes,"he says as if it's obvious. "Now please come down and get me. People are starting to stare."

"Okay. I'll be down in a minute," Clary says, getting up and beginning to take off her pyjamas.

"Thank you," Kit says, and then hangs up the phone. Clary quickly throws on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and heads down to the lobby, where Kit is, amazingly, waiting. Clary didn't really believe he was here until this moment.

Clary clears everything up, and then her a Kit head up to Clary's room.

"What are you doing here?" Clary asks, with a mixture of shock and amusement.

"Well I was already in Japan, and then I saw photos of you here as well, so I called Magnus and he told me where you were staying," Kit says simply.

"Right," Clary replies, still trying to figure everything out. "Are you here for a specific reason?"

"To hang out," Kits says as they reach Clary's door. He holds his hand out for her room key, and unlocks the door after she hands it to him. He comes into the room and flops down on her bed, "so no Jace, huh?"

"Nope," Clary says, laying down next to him.

"Wanna talk about it?" he asks.

"Nope," Clary replies again.

"Thank god," Kit says, and then sits up. "Well, get ready. I've got a big day planned for us."

"What have you got planned?" Clary asks, sitting up.

"You'll just have to wait to find out…" Kit says.

As Clary stands in the bathroom getting ready, Kit begins to read the book on Clary's bedside table.

Once they're ready and out on the street, Kit tells Clary to 'follow me'.

"So you're still travelling I take it?" Clary asks. He seemed to start travelling the moment the band stopped, and it seemed like he hasn't stopped since.

"Ahh, not as much at the moment. I've written and recorded my first album. So that's going to be released soon. Getting one last bit in before everything goes crazy again." Kit says, pushing the button so they can walk across the street.

"Hey congratulations," Clary says, softly nudging him with her shoulder.

"That's actually part of why I wanted to find you," Kit admits, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I was hoping you'd give it a listen - tell me what you think?"

"I'm sure it's going to be amazing," Clary says, and they both begin walking as the sign goes green, "but if you want me to, yeah, of course I'll listen."

"It's just kind of nerve wracking doing it all alone you know…" he says.

"Trust me, I know. I haven't even been able to properly start writing," Clary admits.

"You'll get there," Kit reassures her.

"I'm trying," she says.

"Well maybe this will inspire you…" Kit says, looking up at the big building in front of them. "The Sompo Japan Nipponkoa building."

"Kind of looks like a fancy insurance building," Clary tells Kit.

"Oh it is," he replies. "But I think you'll like what's inside."

Intrigued, Clary follows Kit into the building and they ride up in the elevator together. It opens up to a small gallery. Her eyes are instantly drawn to what she thinks is a Picasso, and she is shocked when she finds out it is.

"What?" she asks Kit, looking at the piece. It was his replica of the fourth version of _Sunflowers_, which was one of her favourite series of paintings, and the reasons that Jace got a sunflower tattooed on his thigh.

"And over here," he tells her, clearly amused by her stunned expression, "is a Paul Gauguin."

They look through the small gallery for a while, before heading out for breakfast together.

Kit takes her to a few more locations around the city, and introduces her to people he'd met the last time he came here.

They stop into a small restaurant for dinner, and about half way through the meal, Kit gets serious.

"Okay look, I've got something to confess," Kit says.

"Okay, shoot," Clary says, not quite gauging the seriousness.

"I wasn't actually in Japan. I was in Hong Kong on a layover, but Magnus called me and asked me to check up on you," Kit says.

"Check up on what?" Clary asks, putting down her chopsticks. She didn't like that people were talking behind her back, and she didn't like the thought of them being concerned for her.

"Just that you were doing okay. I heard you left kind of abruptly," Kit says gently.

"So you didn't come here just to hang out with me, or for me to listen to your album. You all just had to make sure I was okay to clear your consciences?" Clary says, starting to get angry but talking under her breath so she doesn't start a scene.

"No Clary, it's not like that," Kit says quickly, trying to solve the issue before it becomes any bigger. "We just want to look out for you. And make sure everything's okay."

"Everything's fine," Clary answers.

"Then what happened?" Kit asks.

"I just needed to clear my head. Get some perspective on things." Clary answers. "And what happened here? We had fun today, right?" Kit nods. "We always used to have fun. We never bothered with this serious shit. When did we turn into this?"

"You're right," Kit says, leaning back in his chair. "I'm sorry. I'll tell them you're fine, and that they need to mind their own business."

"Who is they?" Clary asks, leaning forward and resting her arms on the table.

"Alec, Magnus and Simon," Kit answers.

"So not Jace?" Clary asks. She needs to make sure he's still okay, even if she would be super annoyed with him if was asking people to check up on her.

"Not Jace," Kit confirms.

"Good," Clary says, leaning back into her chair.

"And also you know, just on the topic of getting back to normal… I literally landed this morning and came straight to your hotel, so I don't really have anywhere to stay tonight…" he says, clearly trying to suggest something.

"You can stay with me," Clary tells him, "but you better not kick me in your sleep."

"I can't make any promises," Kit replies, smiling. And just like that, they were back to their usual selves. Joking and having fun for the whole walk back to the hotel.

As promised, when they get back up to Clary's room, Kit plays his new album for her, and Clary gives him a few notes, but says that the whole album is absolutely amazing.

As she sees Kit off the next morning, so decides two things. Firstly, that she has to make more time for her friends when she gets back to L.A. And secondly, that she has to do a better job of blending in wherever she goes next.

* * *

I've got plans for some old characters to come back and to introduce a new character (well, new to this story) in the next chapter! Who do you think it will be? Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! See you next week. I hope you have a great week and week end :)


	11. Chapter 11: Some Old and New Friends

**Chapter 11: Some Old Friends, Some New Friends**

Hello everyone! Thank you for coming back for another chapter, and being so understanding about the new upload schedule. I hope you all enjoy the chapter.

* * *

The thing about being in big cities, is that it's easy to keep a low profile. Wear a hat and sunglasses, and keep your head down, and most people don't look at you twice. Of course there was the occasional run in with a fan, but they were always nice. That's why Clary loved being in London so much.

People were so caught up in their own lives that you could sit back for hours and just watching, never being disturbed. Clary spent days doing this - watching people. Trying to figure out their stories. It was an amazing change of pace; to watch instead of be watched.

She would wander the streets, soaking up the history and the atmosphere, letting it settle. Letting it heal her.

She was doing this when she came across a bar that looked familiar. She racked her brain; how did she know this pub? When she used to tour with the band, they would rarely leave the hotel room. And the guys didn't really like her drinking, so there's no way they would take her to a pub. So who did?

Intrigued, she heads over to the pub, and the moment she pushes the door open, she's met with a wave of warm air. With the hearty laughs of men, and the delighted squeals of children. There's a band set up in the corner, and a big hearty fire. There are two big cushioned chairs set up in front of the fire that look vacant, so she heads over to those, deciding this would be a good place to get a drink and maybe some dinner.

It's the person sitting in the chair that brings all the memories back. She wonders how she ever could have forgotten.

"Will!" she calls out, raising her voice a little so he can hear her over all the other noise.

"Clary?" he asks, clearly very surprised to see her here. "What…"

"I recognised the pub and thought I'd come take a look. I never thought I'd see you here," she says, a little amazed.

"Ditto," Will says. He's sitting alone in front of the fire with a beer, and Clary realises that he probably wants to be left alone.

"I saw you and just thought I'd say hi - I'll let you get back to it," Clary says, turning away.

"Wait," he says, "join me? I could use the company."

Clary nods, shrugs off her jacket and takes off her hat, and sits in the chair across from him. She quickly orders a beer from the waitress, and then turns back to Will.

"So how are you? How's it all been? You guys seem to be everywhere now," Clary asks.

"Yeah," Will says, quickly running his fingers through his hair. "It's a lot. But it's good. I'm good."

"You going somewhere soon?" Clary asks. When he'd brought her here what felt like a lifetime ago, he said that he liked to come here whenever he was about to leave London.

He turns his head to the side a little, but has a playful smile. He'd never expected her to remember small details about him like that. "We leave for America tomorrow..." he says slowly. "Starting the tour."

"Well then, I better give you a proper send off," Clary says, and asks a passing waitress to bring him another beer.

"What about you! Going out on your own…" Will says.

"It maybe not going as well as I'd hoped," Clary says with a little laugh. "That's why I'm here. Trying to figure out what I want to say…"

"You'd be surprised what my little pub can show you about yourself," Will says, smirking.

"Is it a magic pub now?" Clary asks playfully.

"Everything's got a little bit of magic in it," Will says, "there's just more in some places than others." He's looking at Clary weirdly, as if he's just realised something about her.

Wanting to move on, Clary asks, "anyway, I haven't seen you in ages! How's it all going. Are you seeing anyone?"

Will seems to snap out of whatever mood he was just in to answer her, "uhhh, no. Not since you, actually. I guess I really missed my chance there..."

Out of habit, Clary plays with her rings, Will quickly looks down at her hands and shakes his head. "Of course - congratulations! I should have said earlier…"

"No it's fine," Clary says, quickly stopping the fidgeting. "It can be hard , I know. Everything you can give goes towards the music for a bit. But you'll find someone one day."

Will nods appreciatively, and quickly finishes his beer as the waitress brings him a new one.

"It really is a lot? Isn't it?" Will asks, sounding relieved that he finally has someone to talk to about it all.

"Essentially it's why we stopped," Clary tells him. "Probably not what you wanted to hear."

"You think?" Will answers, laughing.

"If it helps, the years I spent in the band were some of the hardest, but they were also the most fulfilling and fun. I don't think you're allowed one without the other. At least that's what I've found."

"I don't know. It's just kind of surreal. You know you spend all of these years trying to achieve your dream. And when you finally do, there's just this insane pressure to keep pushing, and make what you do next better than what you did before." Will says, leaning back into the big chair.

"And the pressure comes from everyone," Clary adds understandingly. "I'm just trying to figure out if the pressure is worse than the fear of having no idea what you're going to do next."

"Oh, _as if_," Will says, leaning forward again. "You're _Clary Fray_! Of course you know what you're doing next."

"Well," Clary says, "truthfully, I don't really know who Clary Fray is. She's some character I built to face everyone and I've been hiding behind her for a while. I think I'm trying to find the person underneath. Show the world a little bit of her."

"So you _do _have a plan!" Will says, smiling triumphantly.

"Easier said than done. And what about you, Mr London?" Clary says, referring to the nickname she used when they were dating. "What's your big plan?"

"It's pretty simple really," Will says, taking a long sip of beer. "Tour this album, write another one and then tour that."

"Well I'm glad you've got everything sorted out," Clary says, smirking at him.

"I just like to live an organised life," Will says shrugging, crossing his legs and leaning back in his chair. "If you work hard, you too can one day achieve this lifestyle."

"Is that right?" Clary asks, laughing playfully. Suddenly, Clary has this feeling of regret - not that she should have chosen Will over Jace. There is no one she would ever choose over Jace. More regret at ever choosing Will at all. If she hadn't been so determined to make a point to everyone by dating Will, and just decided to be friends with him, everything would've been so much Clary truly believes that they would have had a great friendship. But at least they were there now.

They keep talking for another couple of hours; light and fun discussion about Will's upcoming tour, new music or art they'd discovered and just funny stories they'd collected in their time apart. They called it around 9 o'clock - Will had an early flight the night morning, and Clary didn't want the wrong idea to come out in the photo's she'd seen people taking.

They part ways outside the pub, not knowing when they'll see each other again, but glad to have reunited even if for a short while.

The next day, Clary's walking down St John's Wood High Street when she heard a violin. She looked around for the source of the music, and saw a man a little further down the street playing. There was a park bench across from him, so Clary went down and sat across from him and listened for a while.

He didn't seem to notice that anyone was watching, and after a few songs Clary looked for a case to put some money in, but there wasn't one. She sat and listened to one more song, which she didn't recognise before going up to him.

"Hi, I noticed you didn't have a case for money or anything, and I was wondering if I'd be able to take you for a cup of tea," Clary asks him.

"Oh, I'm flattered, thank you. But I'm married so…" the man says, looking slightly awkward.

"I'm sorry, that came out wrong," Clary says, quickly backtracking. "I'm married as well," she holds up her hand to show him the rings on her finger. "My name's Clary. I was hoping I'd be able to talk to you about your music - I'm a musician as well."

"Well in that case," the man says, placing his violin into the case that was resting on the wall behind him , "my name's Jem."

"It's a pleasure," Clary says, shaking his outstretched hand.

"There's a great little tea shop just down the road," Jem tells her, leading the way.

Once they're settled in the cafe and have taken their orders, Clary asks, "that last song you played. I didn't recognise it. I usually have a pretty good ear for that sort of thing."

"Oh yeah," Jem says, looking shy. "I wrote it - for my wife."

"It's beautiful," Clary tells him.

"What about you, do you write your own music?" he asks, looking genuinely curious. He clearly didn't know who she was, and that made Clary like him more.

"Yeah, I write a bit. Not anything like you do, but I try," Clary says.

"Well maybe I'll get to hear you play one day," Jem says. The waitress brings their tea and a plate of biscuits over.

"So do you only play the violin?" Clary asks, hoping to talk more about him than herself.

"No, I play a few other instruments. I'm most confident in violin of course, but I can play the double bass, bass guitar and some piano. What about you?"

"Umm, mainly the guitar and drums," she tells him, "but I can play the bass and piano. I tried the trumpet but…"

"So you're more into rock and pop I take it?" Jem asks.

"That's primarily what I write and play, but I'll listen to anything," she tells him. "What about you? Are you interested in playing anything outside of classical music?"

"It's definitely the genre I'm most comfortable in," he says, "but my wife tells me that I'm too old fashioned, so she's trying to get me into more modern music."

"How long have you been married?" Clary asks, resting her elbows on the table and her head in her hands.

"I've been married to Tessa for over four or so years," he says, looking excited. "She's pregnant at the moment, so it's all very exciting."

"Congratulations," Clary says. She can see the excitement and anticipation for the future all over his face.

"Thank you. What about you? You seem very young, if you don't mind me saying," Jem asks, looking slightly afraid that he's been rude.

"No, don't worry. I'm twenty-two. I've only been married for a few months," Clary answers.

"And is your husband in London with you?" Jem asks, clearly assuming that the newly weds would be travelling together.

"No, he's back in Los Angeles working. I'm just doing a bit of solo travelling for now," Clary says.

"So you're from L.A.?" Jem asks.

"I'm actually from New York, and Jace, my husband, was born in France, but we're both living in L.A. at the moment. Are you from London?" Clary asks, making an effort to shift the conversation a little more onto Jem. She hadn't brought him in here to teach him about herself, but he seemed eager to learn.

"We're living here at the moment, but Tess' from New York as well. I was born in China but moved over here when I was pretty young - hence the accent."

"Do you go back to China often?" Clary asks. She'd never been before, but it was somewhere she'd always been excited to travel to.

"Every few years," Jem tells her. "It's nice to go back and remember, but London is home now. For both of us." Clary loved how often he brought up his wife - he was clearly very in love.

"So you'd never consider a move to the states?" Clary asks. Another part of this trip was to find potential band mates, and Jem seemed like just the type of person she was looking for.

"Potentially, if it was the right move for us. I know Tessa misses her home sometimes," he says, clearly thinking everything out. "Would you like to see a picture?"

"I would love to," Clary answers. Jem pulls out his phone - a noticeably early model iPhone, and begins flicking through a few photos of his wife. She's pregnant in the last few, and holding a cat, which Jem informs Clary is named Church.

"Do you have any photos of… Jace, was it?" Jem asks.

"Yeah, of course," Clary says. She pulls out her phone and flicks through the more recent photos she'd taken of him - they're mainly photos of him around their house, or pictures he didn't know she was taking, so he couldn't pose. The last picture she flicks to is of his Sunflower tattoo, and she smiles at the memory of him coming home and proudly showing it off to her. _For your love of Van Gogh_, he told her.

"He looks familiar - what line of work is he in again?" Jem asks, trying to get a better look at his face.

Clary hides her smile, "uh, he's an actor."

"Would he be in anything I've seen before?" Jem asks.

"Potentially," Clary answers. "I feel a bit awkward telling you this now, and I probably should've mentioned. He's Jace Herondale. He was in the David Bowie biopic, and he's been a bunch of other pretty high profile movies."

"Oh I saw that movie!" he tells Clary excitedly, "it was really good. Who did he play in it?"

"Ah, David Bowie," Clary says, trying to play it casual.

Jem goes a little red, "well now I'm just embarrassed."

"You shouldn't be! Really, it's my fault for not saying anything sooner - and he looked quite different in that film to how he usually does. And I don't expect everyone to know who he is - it'd actually do some good for his ego."

"So I'm assuming you too, are some high profile person I should've known about and I'm just making a bigger fool of myself." Jem says, looking embarrassed.

"I'm just Clary," she tells him simply, smiling back at the older man across the table.

"Well it's been wonderful to chat, Clary Herondale. But I must get going," Jem says, standing and getting his violin.

"I hope I see you again one day Jem…" she says, realising now she doesn't know his full name.

"Carstairs," he fills in. "I hope to see you again one day too. I'll keep an eye out for your husband!" He shakes her hand and heads out into the street, and for the first time for a while, Clary has true inspiration to write a new song.

She quickly sits back down and takes the notebook out of her bag and leans her phone with the picture of Jace's sunflower tattoo on the wall and gets to writing.

* * *

I hope you liked that chapter. If you could have your pick of any characters who are not yet in this story to be in Clary's new band, who would you want? I have an idea of who I want but I'm very open to suggestions! Hope you all have a great week, and I'll see you at the next chapter :)


	12. Chapter 12: You're in the Band!

**Chapter 12: You're in the Band!**

Hello everyone and welcome back to another chapter! I'm going to try to make most chapters around this length from now on, because we're down to one chapter a week. I can't promise they'll all be quite this long but I'll try! And also a massive thank you to everyone who has been leaving reviews on the story - they really make my day! On to the chapter...

* * *

Inspired by Jem, Clary goes to China next, hoping to experience some new culture and find the music that helped inspire Jem. Just her talk with him had helped her, and she'd been able to start writing some music that she was really happy with and she could see appearing on her album.

She knew she wouldn't have a lot of time to spend in China, because she was really starting to miss Jace and wanted to get home soon. So she set out with a plan to find out about as much of the music history and culture of China as she could in two days, and vowed to return again at another time.

She had been visiting different destinations and people all day, and had learnt a lot about different instruments and styles that she was excited to try and experiment with. She decided to call it a night and head back to her hotel room, but on her walk back, she heard a familiar violin tune.

She looked around, trying to find the source, and was amazed to see Jem standing a little way down the street.

"Jem?" she called out as she got closer to him.

He turned towards her and stopped playing once he saw who it was.

"Clary?" He asks, slowly lowering his violin.

"I'm sorry, please don't think I'm stalking you," Clary quickly says, realising what this might look like. "After our talk all I wanted to do was come to China - I had no idea that you were going to be here."

"Yeah, Tessa and I decided to come back once more before the baby is born, because we're not sure when we'll be able to come over again after…" Jem says.

"Makes sense," Clary says, wondering how best to approach the situation. She desperately wanted to ask him to dinner to be able to talk to him more, but she knew that he had his wife waiting at home, and it might appear a little like she was coming onto him.

"Look, I've got to apologise," Jem says, looking a little sheepish.

"What for?" Clary asks, genuinely confused. If anything, she should be apologising.

"Well, I went home and told Tess that I'd met you. I only told her that your name was Clary and that you were married to Jace Herondale and she quite quickly brought it to my attention that you are a very famous musician in your own right…"

"Oh, I don't mind that at all. It was nice to have a normal conversation - if anything it made me like you more. I should also apologise though - it appears that a number of pictures were released of us having tea," Clary says, wringing her hands together. He seemed like the type of guy that liked to live a quiet life.

"Oh, that's okay - I haven't seen anything. And I'm sure Tessa would find it all rather exciting," he says, showing her a kind smile.

"Well thank you. You've been very nice," Clary tells him.

"Everyone deserves a little bit of kindness - I'm only doing my part," he tells her. "Do you have any plans tonight?"

"I was just going to head back to my hotel - probably get some room service or something," Clary says.

"Would you want to come have dinner with us? I'm sure Tessa would love to meet you, and I had a great time getting to know you the other day," Jem offers.

"I wouldn't want to intrude…" Clary says, knowing she's probably already intruded on his life.

"Nonsense, we'd love to have you over," Jem says.

"Okay then, that would be great. Thank you," Clary says, and then follows Jem as he leads her back to a small apartment.

"Tess," Jem calls out as he walks through the door. "I've brought someone home with me."

"Not another stray cat!" A woman, presumably Tessa replies. "There's no way for us to get it back to London."

She appears from around a corner and stops when she sees Clary, resting her hand on her stomach.

"Hi," Clary says, extending her hand. "I'm Clary."

As if someone hits play, Tessa quickly moves forward to meet the younger girl. "Hello Clary, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Tessa."

"Jem's told me a lot about you," Clary answers, quickly flashing a smile at the man looking on at the interaction.

"I've told Clary it'd be okay if she stayed for dinner," Jem tells his wife.

"Oh yeah, of course. It'll be ready shortly," she says, and then returns to where she came from. "Would you like a drink Clary?" she calls out.

"Some water would be great," she replies, and follows Jem around into what turns out to be a small kitchen.

Jem goes to a cupboard and pulls out a few glasses, filling each with water and then passes one over to Clary.

A promised, dinner is soon served, and the three are all seated around the table enjoying the fried rice Tessa made.

"This is delicious, thank you," Clary tells Tessa.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it," Tessa replies.

They continue having a pleasant, but general conversation for the remainder of dinner. After that Jem clears all the plates and says he'll make everyone a cup of tea. Clary offers multiple times to help them clean up, but they're adamant that she's the guest, so she shouldn't have to clean.

While Jem is in the kitchen making them all tea, Tessa leans forward. "So what got you so interested in my Jem?" she asks. She sounds genuinely curious, and not accusatory like some other women would be.

"Just his music. At first just because it was so beautiful. But then he started playing things I didn't recognise so I stuck around to try and figure what song he was playing before he finished. And then when I went to leave, he didn't have a case to put any money in, and it hit me that he was just playing music because he loved it, and likely that he wanted to share it with other people. And I thought I couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk to someone who loved music that much," Clary explains.

Tessa has a knowing smile, almost as if something similar had happened to her. "So it was just his love of music? Even now?"

Clary looks guiltily up at Tessa. "Well it definitely started that way, but as I got to know him… Look, I really don't want to sound cocky or anything, but Jem told me that you know who I am. And I think you might have some idea that I was in a band, and now I'm not. And I'm looking for people to be in my new band. I'm about to go solo you see, and I really like consistency. I haven't haven't brought it up with him or anything, but I'd love for him to be part of that band."

Tessa smiles back at Clary. "I don't know - you'd have to ask him."

"Ask me what?" Jem says as he comes back to the table, holding a tray that has three cups of tea and a plate of biscuits on it.

"Tell him," Tessa says.

"I thought about it in London, and I was going to leave it because you've clearly got a life there that you love. But then I saw you today and I can't help but feel it's fate. I'm looking for people to make my new band, and I'd love for you to be in it. I know it's a lot to ask - you'd have to move to L.A., at least for a little bit while we write and record. And then there would be touring and you'd have your family."

"That's very nice of you to offer, but I'm sure you don't want some old guy like me in your band," Jem says, blushing a little.

"Trust me, you are exactly the type of person I'm looking for. Will you consider it?" Clary practically pleads. She knows it's a lot to put on them both, but it was worth trying.

"Well, what do you think Tess?" Jem asks, looking over to his wife.

"I think you should do whatever makes you happy. I'd be more than happy to go with you - you know I miss the states. And I can write books from anywhere. But it's up to you," she says, gently resting her hand on his arm.

"And I can do whatever you need to make it easy for you both," Clary tells them. "I can get you a place close to the studio so Jem can walk each day and get back quickly if you need anything. And we can arrange a schedule around your due date."

"It sounds like an amazing opportunity…" Jem says almost longingly. He looks over to Tessa who gives him an encouraging smile.

"Okay," Jem says. "Thank you. Yes."

"Thank you. Thank you both. You can have a while to get everything organised. And I'll get you in touch with my manager, Magnus. He'll help you organise everything. Thank you," Clary says, unable to contain her excitement.

She stays at their apartment for a little while longer, just talking details and her plans for the future.

She hadn't been back at her hotel for five minutes before she gets a call from Jace. Seeing as they'd promised to only call each other if something had gone wrong, she answers quickly.

"Jace? Is everything okay?" Clary asks quickly.

"Yeah Clary, everything is fine," Jace answers, sounding very pissed off.

Neither of them speaks for a little while, so Clary eventually has to fill the silence. "I don't want to be rude or anything, but is there a reason you called? Because I thought we agreed not to call unless…" she says, trailing off realising how bad what she's saying sounds. She _did _leave him with almost no explanation; he should be able to call her if he wants to.

"I just wanted to see how everything was going. Seen any good things? Met any interesting people?" he asks, straining his voice.

"Yeah I'm having a good time. I can tell you all about it when I get home - which I think will be soon, by the way." Clary says, trying to not annoy Jace anymore, even if the reason for his annoyance was still unknown to Clary. "Are you sure everything's okay, Jace?"

"Oh I don't know," Jace says. "It's just, you said you wanted to go meet new people, but apparently what you really meant is that you didn't want to see me. Did you really think the pictures wouldn't get back to me?"

"What pictures?" Clary asks, completely confused. She hadn't done anything wrong. Or at least she thought she hadn't.

"Well first it was Kit," Jace says shortly. "But I thought I'd let that one slide. And then it was _Will_. And that one rubbed me a little differently - I know there's history between you two. But again, I knew I could trust you so I didn't say anything. And then there was this random third guy, who you pretty much went on a date with in London. And now it looks like you've followed him to China. So I think you can understand where I'm coming from," Jace says, sounding progressively more and more pissed off as he spoke.

"Are you serious right now?" Clary asks, becoming annoyed herself. "Do you seriously not trust me?"

"I don't know Clary. All I know is that you practically ran away from me, and now you're seeing all these other guys."

"I can't believe you're being this _jealous_ right now. I didn't run away from you Jace - you agreed to let me go, and I didn't leave until you had," Clary says, trying to make him see clearly again.

"Yeah, well how would you feel if you suddenly started seeing all these pictures of me and Camille?" Jace asks, referencing the model he was dating around the same time Clary was dating Will.

"I wouldn't care!" Clary almost screams, "because I trust you and I know you wouldn't do anything."

"Whatever, Clary. I just thought I should remind you that you have a husband at home, waiting for you." Jace says, sounding truly petty.

"Not that I should have to explain myself to you or anyone else…" Clary says, knowing this might be the only way to get through to him, "but Kit showed up, _out of the blue,_ because all the guys are concerned for me. And I told him there was nothing to worry about, and he left that night. I _accidentally _ran into Will in a pub. We only talked for a few hours about music, art, fashion and the pressure that comes with the industry we're in. He did not once try to '_make a move'_ on me, or whatever you are so worried about. The 'random guy' is named Jem Carstairs. When we met in London, I wanted to talk to him about his music, but he ended up talking more about his _pregnant wife_ and asking me questions about my husband. I didn't know he was going to be in Shanghai, but when I saw him playing on the street again, I took it as a sign and asked him to join my band. Is that enough explanation for you?" Clary asks, sounding defeated. She never thought Jace would question her fidelity to him.

"Clary…" Jace says, starting to see that he might be in the wrong.

"And I was really excited to tell you all about it," Clary tells him.

"Look, I'm sorry. But you've got to understand that this is hard for me. People keep asking me if we're separating. They ask me what you're doing and I can only give them some vague answer about your music."

"I know. And I'm sorry too. But I promise you, it's worth it. I love you so much. And being away from you… it's only helped me realise how much," Clary says gently.

"I know. I love you too Clary. And I miss you. So much," Jace almost whispers into the phone.

"I promise I'll be home soon," she tells him.

As soon as Jace hangs up the phone, Clary starts making plans to make her way back to the U.S.

However, instead of flying straight back to L.A., she to goes to New York first. She goes to her family home in Brooklyn, which almost nobody knew she still owned. She doesn't spend long there though - pretty much just drops off her bags before heading out again in pursuit of one person.

It's just a short walk from her house to Simon's mom's house, so Clary gets there before the sun sets. Elaine opens the door, and is clearly shocked to see Clary there, but she quickly invites her inside for a cup of coffee.

They chat for a little while, and she tells Clary that Simon is coming over for dinner that night, and that she's more than welcome to stay. Clary takes her up on the offer - the main reason she'd come to New York was to talk to Simon.

Simon looks shocked as he comes into the dinning room to see Clary sitting with his mother, but quickly hugs her.

"Is everything okay?" he whispers into her ear while they're hugging.

"Not now. Later," she whispers back, and smiles at them as they pull apart. While she did miss him, there was a specific reason for her visit - but it wasn't a conversation she wanted to have in front of his mom.

He nods at her, and helps his mom bring the food in from the kitchen, not mentioning it again.

They all have pleasant conversation over dinner, talking about what they've all been doing for the past couple of months.

After Clary and Simon help Elaine clean up, Simon offers to walk Clary home. Once they've walked a little way from the house, Simon soft bumps his shoulder into her.

"So, did you fly all the way here because you missed me?" he asks.

"I _do_ miss you," Clary admits, "but that wasn't the whole purpose of me coming here."

"So spill the beans," Simon says.

"I know that you know I've been travelling for the past few months," Clary says, looking up at him. Simon just nods back, not knowing where this is going. "And I'm glad that you still think about me and everything, but it was not cool for you to send Kit after me."

"About that," Simon says. "Look, I know it probably wasn't the best thing to do, but we were worried, Clary. We just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"And that conversation could have taken place over the phone," Clary tells him.

"So could this one," he retorts. "So why are you really here?"

"That was the only reason," Clary says, looking straight ahead.

"No it wasn't," Simon says, running forward a little bit and walking backwards, so he can look her in the face. "You're afraid to go home, aren't you?"

"Why would I be afraid?" Clary asks, but _she _doesn't even believe herself. She rolls her eyes at his raised eyebrows, but gives in. "He's pretty mad at me. And I get it - I didn't handle the whole situation very well."

"So? Jace has been mad at you before. Staying away isn't going to help the situation," Simon replies.

"I know that," Clary says, and she can hear the childish tone in her own voice, and Simon realises what is really going on.

"Clary, he's not going to leave. Sure, he might be a little angry, but that doesn't mean he's going anywhere. Look, I promised him I would never tell you this… but you're my best friend, not him."

They stop walking as Clary looks up at Simon. "He may be a little bit angry, but he was way more worried about you, and in love with you, and missing you. You've got nothing to be worried about."

"How do you know?" Clary asks.

"Because he called me once a week to see if you'd called me. Just wanting an update and to make sure you were okay. That's the real reason we sent Kit - to make sure you _were_ okay. We thought if Jace was that worried, then maybe he had a reason to be."

"I'm such a bitch!" Clary says, and keeps walking.

Simon laughs, and jogs a little bit to catch up to her. "You're not a bitch, but I do think you should stop procrastinating going back to Jace and just face him. Rip off the band aid."

Clary stops walking when they reach her house.

"Do you want to come in?" Clary asks.

"No, I've got to get back home to Izzy - and you should get home to Jace!"

"Yeah, whatever," Clary says, knowing he's right. "Thank you Simon," she calls out to him as he walks away. He spins around and blows her a kiss, and Clary rolls her eyes before going inside.

Clary books a flight back to L.A. for tomorrow afternoon to give herself a little more time to get ready to go home. If, as Simon has said, Jace wasn't as angry as Clary thought, then she knew she didn't have a lot to be worried about, but there was every chance that he was wrong. Or he was completely making it up to make her go home.

Nevertheless, she goes to Luke's the next morning, wanting to see him before she goes home. When she gets into the bookshop, there's a girl around the same age as Clary standing behind the counter.

"Maia?" Clary asks. She'd talked to the girl a number of times while trying to organise Luke's Christmas present one year, but she'd never actually met her in person.

"Oh my god, Clary Fray?" Maia asks, clearly shocked to see her in the bookshop.

"It's good to finally meet you in person," Clary says, walking up to the counter.

"Umm, yeah. You too," Maia replies, clearly still a little bit shocked.

"And thank you for all your help, by the way. With getting the book and everything," Clary says.

"Oh yeah of course. Luke loves it," Maia says, motioning towards the book in a glass case.

"I'm glad," Clary says, smiling at the other girl.

"Luke's just out the back - let me go get him for you," Maia says, hurrying into the back storage area.

"Thank you," Clary calls out, slightly amused.

Clary wanders over to the glass case to look at the book for a moment, but is quickly distracted by Luke coming into the store, making a beeline for her.

"Clary!" Luke calls out, clearly excited by her presence.

"Hey Luke," Clary says, hurrying towards him. He quickly scopes her up into a big bear hug.

When he finally lets her go, he asks, "what are you doing here kiddo?"

"I wanted to see my _favourite_ Godfather of course," Clary answers.

"Well I'm honoured," Luke replies. "Hey Maia, are you all good to run the shop for a little bit?" Maia nods in reply, so he leads Clary up to his apartment and begins making them some coffee.

"If I knew you were coming I would've gotten some better food," Luke says, bringing two cups of coffee over with a pack of Oreo's.

"You know I love Oreo's," Clary says, quickly taking a cookie out of the packet.

"When are you going back to L.A?" Luke asks.

"I've got a three o'clock flight," she tells him.

"So just a stop over then - apparently New York isn't good enough for jet setter Clary Fray anymore," Luke says, and pretends to flick hair over his shoulder.

"Oh shut up," Clary says, laughing as she softly punches him on the arm. "I've got to get back to Jace… and life, really."

"I get it," Luke says. "But I do appreciate you making time for an old man like me…"

Clary rolls his eyes, but smiles at him anyway. "Anyway, what's been going on with you?"

"Not a lot - just 'life' and you so eloquently put it," Luke answers.

They keep talking and joking around for the next hour, and it reminds Clary so strongly of when they lived together in L.A. He gave everything up to be with her while the band was starting out, and she didn't realise it at the time, but he also put in a lot of effort to keep her life as normal as possible. He taught her how to drive, made sure she didn't feed into any of the negative or positive comments about herself, and tried to keep her schedule as normal and achievable as possible. He also made her finish all of her school work, which she didn't love at the time, but was now very appreciative of. It kind of felt like everything turned to shit once he moved back to New York, but she would never tell him that - he didn't want to leave as it was.

She'd told him a million times, and tried to show him how appreciative she was of everything he'd done, but she knew that he would never know quite how much it meant to her.

When she leaves, she makes a mental note to make a bigger effort to see Luke more often.

As she walks back to her house, Clary passes a guitar shop that she always used to go into and admire the nice guitars. Before the band got signed, she had to buy all of her instruments second hand at garage sales or flea markets.

Wanting to tick off another thing on her childhood bucket list, she goes into the shop and heads straight for the acoustic guitars. Before she has a chance to test out any of the guitars herself, she's distracted by a blonde girl, probably a few years younger than Clary, strumming a guitar.

Clary recognises the song as 'Helplessly Hoping,' and this is confirmed to her when the girl starts to softly sing. When she had to learn a bunch of covers with the band for their last tour, she had a particular difficulty learning this song. It wasn't that it was overly complicated, it just took a high level of precision and gentleness that was hard to achieve. Clary doesn't move, and continues to listen to the girl play. When she finished the song, she looks up and looks shocked to see Clary standing there.

"Oh my god. Sorry, I didn't know anyone was here," the girl says, quickly taking off the guitar strap and standing up.

"You're really good," Clary tells her.

"I was just messing around. I usually play electric, but I just wanted to try something new," the girl says.

"Well, whatever you're doing you should keep on doing it," Clary tells her.

"Yeah, maybe," the girl says, placing the guitar back on its holder on the wall.

"You're not going to get it?" Clary asks. "Do you already have an acoustic at home?"

"Oh no, but you know… I invested in my electric and the amps and everything. I just walked past the shop and thought I'd give it a go," she says, looking a little embarrassed.

"Could I get it for you, please? That guitar deserves to be owned by someone who's going to play it like that," Clary says.

"Oh, I couldn't," the girl says.

"Please - I want to. You're never going to get better if you don't have the instruments to do it. And I can really see you going far." Clary says, taking the guitar off the wall and handing it to the girl.

"I…" the girl says.

"And you'll need a case too," Clary says, smiling at the girl and heading to the front of the shop to find someone to help them.

"I'm Emma by the way," the girl says, coming up the front of the shop, still looking a little shocked.

"Clary," Clary responds, holding out her hand to shake.

Emma's eyes light up with some sort of recognition at hearing Clary's name, but she tries to play it cool.

Right after Clary buys the guitar and case for Emma, a boy comes bounding into the shop.

"Hey Em, there is the best looking bakery down the street!" the boy says, hurrying up to Emma.

"This is Julian - Jules," Emma tells Clary. Julian looks at Clary, and it's clear he hadn't noticed anyone else was in the shop until how.

"Hey," Julian says, waving at Clary quickly. He does a double take when he realises who she is.

"Is this your boyfriend?" Clary asks Emma, thinking they make a cute couple.

There's an awkward moment of stuttering from both as they quickly try to explain that they're 'just friends'.

Clary nods at the pair, trying to hide her smile, remembering a time when Jace and her were 'just friends'.

"I think I know the bakery you're talking about," Clary tells Jules. "Wanna go get something to eat?"

They both nod at her, and in the short walk to the bakery, Emma explains to Julian that Clary heard her playing and bought her the guitar.

While eating and having some coffee, Clary learns that the pair have been friends for as long as they've been alive, and that they're just on holidays for a little while - they actually live in L.A.

She also learns that Julian plays the drums and that they can both play the piano, and that they've both written a bit of music.

Knowing that Emma's already good enough, and that she probably wouldn't let Julian fall very far behind her, she offers them both a place in her band. She's decided she wanted to find more people like Jem - people who loved music, and weren't actively seeking stardom. She got along with them both really well and they were both talented (as proven when Julian begins playing Emma's new guitar to 'test it out'), so it seemed like a good fit. It also helped that they already lived in L.A. and were young and didn't have too many commitments.

They both accept straight away knowing what a great opportunity it is.

"Well, I've actually got to go now - I have a flight home soon. But I'll give you my phone number and we can meet up in L.A. when you get back from your holiday!"

They exchange contact information, and Clary leaves them both, buzzing with excitement.

"Have fun!" Clary says as she leaves. Hopefully everything with Jace can fall into place just as easily.

* * *

I hope you like the people I've selected for the band so far! I think I want one more, so if you have any ideas for who the last member should be, please let me know! Anyway, I hope you all have a great week, and I'll see you at the next chapter :)


	13. Chapter 13: It's Not The Same Anymore

**Chapter 13: It's Not The Same Anymore**

Hello everyone and welcome back to a new chapter! I hope everyone's keeping safe, and I hope this update can lift your spirits a little bit :) Enjoy!

* * *

The taxi drops Clary out the front of her house, and it takes her a little while to gain the confidence to go inside. Sure, Jace had said he missed her, and Simon seemed to second that idea, but there was no knowing how Jace would react. He was a passionate person; part of what Clary loved most about him, but it meant he could be unpredictable.

Clary takes one final deep breath before quickly putting the code in for the front door and going inside before she loses her nerve. She softly places her bag on the ground next to the front door and quietly heads deeper into the house. She hadn't told Jace that she was coming home now, so she didn't even know if he'd be home.

Clary finds him sitting on the kitchen island with headphones in, facing the ocean. Because of his position, he didn't know Clary was in the house yet. She studied him for a moment; the slight tension in his shoulders that definitely wasn't there when she left. She noticed his hunched over back, and quickly thought of his normal, perfect posture. His hair was longer than normal - it hung half way down his neck, as if he just couldn't be bothered to get it cut.

"Jace," she says, but he doesn't hear her. She can hear the slight hum of music coming out of his head phones. She doesn't recognise the song, but knows he must be listening at near full volume. She moves towards him, and he must finally see her reflection in one of the doors, because he quickly pulls his headphones off his head and faces her.

He doesn't make a move towards her, and swallows, either not knowing what to say, or waiting for her to speak first.

She smiles, not knowing what to say, but eventually chokes out, "hi Jace."

"Hi," he responds, not coldly but not with the usual warmth he had towards her. He looked confused. Clary could appreciate why - she'd been gone for a while and just suddenly showed up, but she had said she would come home soon, and she tells Jace as much.

"Sorry if I gave you a fright - I wasn't sure if you'd be home," she tells him.

"Well I am," he replies, quickly looking her up and down, as if trying to calculate if the person standing in front of him is the same person who left a number of months ago.

"I did tell you I was coming soon," Clary says, slowly taking another step towards him.

"Sorry for not believing you. Or maybe I thought your definition of soon was different to mine," he says, taking a step back. Clary tries not to show how much the one step hurt her - he had every right to react to her like this, but it still hurt.

"I mean, I thought you may have seen some photos of me in New York or something. I guess I was wrong…" Clary says, not knowing what else to say.

"No. I saw the photos. I just thought you'd stay there for longer," Jace says, who had suddenly become very interested in his finger nail.

It was odd - the couple who'd once been so close; who could figure out each others feeling with one look, so tell how stressed the other was by the potion of their shoulders, who seemed to react when the other moved, where now like strangers.

They didn't know what to say, or feel towards the other. Jace knew he was angry at Clary, but didn't really know what for anymore. And as much as he was trying to stop it, it was affecting the way he was acting towards her.

And Clary didn't know how to respond to that. She'd been around angry and gloomy Jace before, but she'd never been the cause. She knew a Jace who wanted to distance himself from everyone and everything, but she usually knew exactly what to say to be able to get a little closer. Now it felt there was nothing she could say or do to poke a whole in the wall he'd clearly been building in the months that she was gone.

And it didn't help that Clary now felt different about Jace. She'd realised things while she'd been away that changed her perspective on their relationship, and it felt odd being the only one in the pair that knew the new information.

"I was going to make a chicken salad for dinner - do you want some, or did you eat on the plane? '' Jace asks, walking over to the fridge and taking out ingredients.

"I would love some, thank you. I might just take a shower before dinner if that's okay - wash off all the travelling," Clary answers.

"Be my guest," Jace says, beginning to cut the chicken into smaller pieces.

Clary heads back to the entrance to pick up her bag before going to their bedroom to shower. Their room was as neat as ever, so at least that hadn't changed.

She quickly showers and puts on Jace's t-shirt that she'd been travelling with and some pyjama bottoms. When she gets back to the kitchen and sit at one of the bar chairs at the kitchen island, Jace does a double take - clearly noticing that she's wearing his shirt, but doesn't comment on it. Instead, he slides a bowl over to her, and picks up his own bowl. He has a mouthful before deciding to sit next to Clary.

"This is really good, thanks," Clary says, smiling at her husband. He nods in response, and they continue eating in silence. Clary didn't think coming home would be this weird; she expected some big argument, or for Jace to be relieved and pick her up and kiss her. Not this awkward vibe where neither felt comfortable saying what they wanted, but felt obliged to spend time with the other person.

Just before Clary finishes her dinner, she asks, "how's everything going with the movie? It's got to be close to wrap now?"

"Yeah, we have the last day tomorrow actually. You should come along to set. People have been asking after you," he says, not looking at her.

"Yeah that would be good," she says, taking the final bite of her salad. She waits for Jace to finish, and then takes both bowls over to the sink to wash up. She would usually just put them in the dishwasher, but she felt like she needed to be doing something, and this was all she could think of.

Jace comes and stands next to her, picking up a tea towel and taking the bowl after Clary has finished washing it.

"So did you figure it out? The reason you _so desperately_ had to leave?" Jace asks, unable to keep the bitterness out of his tone.

"I did actually," Clary says, and Jace looks down at her in surprise. He was expecting some off hand comment about his attitude. "But sure how to tell you. I don't want to make you any more angry."

"Just tell me," Jace says, obviously not knowing how the news is going to affect his mood, but knowing that there is nothing else he wants to hear right now.

Clary starts scrubbing the already clean bowl harder, and so Jace takes it from her and put it on the drying rack, and leads her over to the couch.

"Clary, you have to tell me. It's only fair," Jace almost pleads.

Clary looks down at her hands before looking back up at Jace. He was right - he deserved to know. "I realised," Clary says, "that I was afraid of you leaving."

Jace looks like he's about to argue with her, so she quickly keeps talking, "and I know that you wouldn't leave optionally. You don't always get a choice in the matter. I know that, more than most. And because of that, I had to make sure I could survive without you."

Jace gives her a look that she takes as him not really understanding what she's saying. Despite the conversation and the heavy mood, Clary couldn't help but smile at their silent communication.

"My dad leaving wasn't his choice, but it was still incredibly hard to handle. I don't think my mom leaving was her choice either, but it felt like a piece of me died with her. And when my brother left, I didn't really feel human anymore. I just felt like some shell of a person - a public figure who struggled to feel anything personal. And so losing you - I thought it might actually kill me. You are my everything, and the thought of having to live without you… it seemed impossible, unbearable. So I had to prove to myself that I could survive without you."

Jace softly grabs her hand - the first time he'd touched her since her return. And she knew that in some twisted way that he completely understood what she was saying.

"And I did - I now know that even if I'd be miserable, and life seems to lack purpose, I _can_ survive without you," Clary says, squeezing his hand.

"Clary, I'll fight to my last breath to be with you," Jace says, not breaking eye contact.

"I know," Clary says, and she did. She knew that he'd never voluntarily leave her. She knew that he would love her forever.

"And I know there is nothing I can say to prove to you that I'm going to stick around for a long, long time. But I understand now. And I can stop being angry at you for leaving. Clary, I love you so much. I need you to know that. I need you to know that these months apart have been some of the hardest of my life, and that I'm so glad you're back, but I'll understand if you need to be by yourself for a little while again. I know you've got a history that I can never be a part of, and that I can only try to understand. But you can talk to me, whenever you feel down, or sad. Whatever you're feeling… let me feel it with you. Or if you don't want me to… which I'd also understand, promise me you'll find other people to talk with. Just so it doesn't all bottled up inside you. I want you to be happy and healthy Clary, more than almost anything else.

Clary rests her forehead against Jaces. "I love you too," she whispers, and finally, their lips meet. It wasn't some big epic kiss - just short and sweet. But after months apart it felt like everything.

And just like that, the awkward air between them seemed to clear. They seemed to be on the same page again, back in sync.

They were sitting on the couch a little while later, eating ice cream and enjoying each other's company. It suddenly occurred to Clary that she hadn't told Jace anything she did for her music while she was gone.

She quickly explains how she met everyone who she's recruited into the band so far, and told him what they were like.

"And I wrote a bunch of music - some of it not very good at all, but there are a few songs that are still in their early stages that I could see being on the album…" Clary tells him, clearly hoping he'll ask to hear them.

"Let's hear them then," Jace says, smiling at his wife's enthusiasm. While he may not have agreed with her going, and hated the whole time she was gone, he had to admit it had done wonders for her. She seemed happier, more confident and more driven than before. Like she'd finally found that purpose she had when they first met, but in a much more positive way.

"Well - like I said, they're all still pretty early on - this is more the bones of the songs… but I think they could be something good," Clary says, grabbing the guitar she always kept in the living room, that she was glad to see Jace hadn't moved.

"I'm sure they're amazing," Jace says.

Clary quickly tunes the guitar, and then smiles across to Jace, "this first one's called 'Sunflower.'"

When Clary sings the line '_I couldn't want you anymore, kiss in the kitchen like it's a dance floor,'_ she sees Jace's smile grow so that it was showing all of his teeth and wrinkling around his eyes.

"I love it," Jace tells her when she finishes.

"Really?" Clary asks, always needing reassurance.

"Absolutely. I don't know how to describe it… but that song sounds like what breathing feels like."

"Stop being dramatic," Clary tells him, laughing.

"First of all, you should know by now that I'm a very dramatic person. And second; I'm not being dramatic - it's perfect." Jace says, not breaking eye contact.

"Well, it needs some more work - I'm not happy with the music and…" Clary says, but is cut off quickly by Jace.

"Clary just admit it's really, really good. I wouldn't be able to write anything that sounded nearly that good if I had the rest of my life," Jace says.

Clary rolls her eyes, but accepts the complement, knowing there's no point in arguing with him.

"And I particularly love that it's in the kitchen," Jace says.

"Well, the kitchen is an important place for us…" Clary says, "it's where we first said 'I love you' to each other."

"And where we kissed for the first time," Jace adds. Clary smiles at him, feeling her heart swelter. She wasn't sure if he'd remember that, or at the time if she was just another girl he was trying to sleep with.

"Well anyway, the next one I want to play for you is called, 'It's Not the Same Anymore.' I actually wrote this one when I was like 17, but it felt appropriate for now. And I added the last verse…"

Jace can obviously tell that this one's more serious, and possibly a bit more personal for Clary.

"I'm glad it's better now," Jace tells her.

"It's the best now," Clary answers. "And that's all because of you."

Before Jace is able to speak again, Clary quickly plays her last song, 'Lights Up,' which she thinks is going to be her first solo. It kind of explained everything that was going through her head when she was travelling, and that she was vowing to be more open and vulnerable with everyone in this next chapter of her life.

They go to bed not long after that, with Jace showering Clary in compliments about her music. There was a mutual feeling that they were in a better and more mature stage of their relationship.

Clary goes to work with Jace the next day as promised. Everyone seems a little surprised to see her there, but happy.

When Jace has to go to hair and makeup, Clary goes and sits on his chair, trying to keep to herself, however Izzy quickly comes over to greet her.

"You're back!" Izzy says, quickly hugging Clary.

"Didn't Simon tell you I was coming back?" Clary asks, knowing the two shared practically everything.

"He may have mentioned something…" Izzy admits, "but I wasn't sure if you would come today or not."

Clary gives her a questioning look, and Izzy clarifies, "I wasn't sure if you two were going to be in the right head space…"

Clary can clearly tell that Jace had ranted to Izzy on many occasions about her trip, and she'd maybe had input from Simon, Kit and Magnus, not to mention the media. "We talked," Clary tells her, "we seem to have worked everything out." There was a brief moment where Clary wants to ask what he said, but decided not to. She didn't want to get angry at Jace for saying something he said before, and probably assumed he would never get back to Clary.

"That's good," Izzy says shaking Clary's shoulders a little. "So what's next for Clary Fray?"

"Just writing and recording for the next few months," she tells Izzy, "and I assume Jace is going to do another movie soon." She knew Izzy would probably now more on the second topic, and was looking for some clues to see if he'd signed on for anything new.

"Umm, you might need to have a talk to him about that one," Izzy says, and before Clary can ask any questions, Jace comes over and steers the conversation in a new direction.

They spend the majority of the filming, and Clary just sits on the side watching Jace do his thing. He gives a really nice speech to all the cast and crew, just thanking them for all the effort they've put in over the past few months.

Everyone goes out for drinks after to celebrate the end of filming, and they get home late, so she doesn't get a chance to ask him what Izzy may have meant.

She brings it up over breakfast the next morning, trying to be casual.

"So I know you've just finished filming and everything, but have you got any idea about what's coming up?" Clary asks, moving the yogurt around in her bowl.

"I meant to bring this up, actually. I've been thinking that I want to produce a movie next. I know it's a big, and potentially expensive step, but I think it's what I'm up to. I know it'll take a while, and be hard, but I'm up for the challenge," Jace says, looking nervous at what Clary is going to say.

"I think you'll do a great job. And me, and Izzy and all the guys are here to help where you need it," Clary says, grabbing and squeezing his hand.

"I don't even know where to begin," Jace says, looking overwhelmed.

"I think I have an idea," Clary says, and takes both of their bowls and places them in the kitchen. She then leads Jace to the car and drives quietly, not revealing to him where they're going.

After driving for a few minutes, Clary pulls up at a beach house which is for sale. There's a realtor standing out the front, ready to show people around.

"I was looking at it online, and I think it might be perfect for us. There would be plenty of space for us to each have our own office. I could set up a recording studio, and you'd have room to hold big meetings with all the important people of your movies. It's close to our home, and has a homey feeling about it, but it would mean that we could have a space specifically for work. I get it if you want to have a place closer to the city… I just thought this could be a good start." Clary says, looking past Jace and at the house.

"I think it's a great idea - and a great place for 'Morning Star Productions.''

They walk around the house for a little while, sussing everything out but decide it's perfect. It would need some slight renovations - like putting in Clary's recording studio, but it had enough room for them to grow in the future and get started now.

They leave with plans to put an offer on the house that afternoon, and feeling like everything was finally starting to fall into place to have the future they'd always dreamed of.

* * *

Song Mentions:

Sunflower Vol. 6 and Lights Up by Harry Styles

It's Not The Same Anymore by Rex Orange County

I hate to leave the chapter on such a happy note, but I'm also glad that Clary and Jace are back to a happy place. If you have any suggestions, or anything you want to see in the story (song/movie idea/plot idea) I'd be more than happy to hear it, and to write them into the story :) Hope you all have a good and safe week!


	14. Chapter 14: New Futures

**Chapter 14: New Futures**

Hello everyone! Welcome back to another chapter. I hope you've all been safe. I'm sorry this chapter is a little bit shorter - I've been a bit short on time as I have a few university assignments due soon, but once I had those in I'll be right back into it! There's a question at the end of this chapter I would love for you to answer! Anyway, let's get into it!

* * *

It has been a few weeks since Clary had come home. Everything between Clary and Jace had become normal again, and the divide that had been created by Clary leaving slowly closed up. They had already made plans for the new office they bought, wanting to get it ready for use as soon as possible.

It had also been a few weeks since Clary had started to get band members. Emma and Julian had come home about a week after Clary had, and she'd met up with them a few times, but it had taken longer for Jem to be able to move over with Tessa. As promised, Clary had helped find them a home that would be close to where the new studio was setting up, and Magnus had been working hard to make sure the transition had been as smooth as possible. They'd come over about a week ago, and Clary had wanted to give them space while they set up their new home.

But the day had finally come to have the first official band meeting, and it was the first time that Jace was going to be able to meet them all. He'd been busy working with Izzy to see what he needed to start setting up to be able to produce a movie - it was a bigger task than he originally thought, but he was open to the challenge.

Clary had gone out and bought a big array of pastries and fruit for everyone when they came over that morning. Because the studio space wasn't' ready yet, they were going to start in Clary's house, and then transition over when it was ready.

"God I hope they like each other," Clary tells Jace as they wait for everyone to arrive. It had occurred to Clary that pairing people as young as Emma and Julian with someone older like Jem was perhaps not the best idea, but she thought if she got along with them all well, then they should get along with each other as well.

Jem and Tessa were the first to arrive, and Clary led them quickly out to the back conscious that Tessa was quite heavily pregnant.

"Thank you so much for coming," Clary tells them. "This is my husband, Jace. Jace, this is Jem and Tessa."

"It's lovely to meet you," Jace says, extending a hand for them to shake.

"You know, it's really quite embarrassing now that I didn't realise you where… you know…" Jem says, clearly not wanting to call her famous, "but now having dealt with your manager, and seeing where you live…"

"Oh honestly, it's fine. I really wasn't offended in the slightest," Clary says sitting across from Jem and next to Jace.

"It's a lovely home," Tessa says, looking a little past Jace and out towards the ocean. "I've only ever lived in New York and London, so knowing there are people they live at places where they just get to watch the ocean all day… I must admit, I'm a little jealous."

"Well you can see the ocean from your house now… I know you probably won't be there for too long, but it'll be nice for now," Clary says. She'd talked to both of them, and they'd come to the decision that they would only live in L.A. while they were writing an album. When Jem would come on tour, or they were between albums, they would move back to England.

"Very true!" Tessa says, "It still feels like we're on holiday."

Before anyone could respond, there was a knock on the door, and Clary jumped up to go let Emma and Julian inside. She led them out onto the back deck and introduced everyone again, and was glad to see that they all quickly took to each other.

After a little while of conversation, Emma and Jem realised that they had the same last names and after some googling, a few phone calls and a couple rough estimates at family trees they figured out that they were distant relatives.

After an hour or so of everyone getting to know each other, Jace volunteered to drive Tessa home so that everyone else could start getting down to business.

Clary quickly plays them the rough versions of what she's written so far, and then tells them the general direction she wants to take the rest of the album - she was happy to push the boundaries and mix genres. Really, she just wanted to make an album that she was proud of and would want to listen to.

They all quickly agreed, and even came up with a few ideas on how they could add to the songs she'd already written to really build up the music and background. Clary quickly leads them into her music room - which had all sorts of instruments and a basic recording studio to see what they could come up with.

After a few hours, they are happy with the progress they've made and agree to meet up everyday for a few hours to start writing new stuff. With everything organised, they all decide to go out for drinks to celebrate.

The next morning, Clary wakes up with a bunch of texts from Magnus with photos of all of them out having drinks, along with a few news articles. They seemed to recognise Jem, not by name of course, but rule him out as someone she was potentially having an affair with, seeing as she was out with both him and Jace. They throw a few theories around, but no one seems to land on the truth. Magnus tells her that she needs to try and take control of the message, and Clary tells him that she'll take care of it today.

When they come over that day, they write for a while, but Clary brings up the topic at lunch.

"So you may have seen that a photo got released of us all yesterday," Clary says.

"Yeah, I don't even know how they got that photo though," Jules says, "I didn't even see anyone around!"

"It's a bit weird in the beginning - my guess is that it was just someone having lunch," Clary tells them. "But I just wanted to ask who you've told so far? Magnus is just concerned about 'the message'."

"We've only told family," Emma says, looking over at Jules, who nods.

"And I've obviously told Tessa, and our parents know generally what's happening but none of the specifics," Jem says.

"Well I'm happy for you to tell people," Clary says, "but it would just be good to get a heads up - Mags can get a bit pedantic about it sometimes."

"I think we're good to keep it in the family for the moment - I'll tell my brothers and sisters not to tell anyone," Jules says.

"Well thank you. Oh! I totally forgot - I meant to tell you yesterday but there was a lot going on… Kit Rook - he was in my old band, has his opening show tonight at the Forum, I've got a private box with Simon and Alec and Magnus and a few other people, but you're all more than welcome to come. And you can bring anyone you like - Tessa, your brother or sisters. The more the merrier!"

They all agree to bring everyone along, thinking that it would be a good place to introduce everyone in a relaxed environment.

Luke was even flying in for the occasion, insisting that he couldn't miss Kit's first solo gig, so Clary and Jace pick him up on the way to the concert, and they fill him in on everything that's been going on on the rest of the drive.

Kit knew that they were all coming to the concert, but was obviously too busy, and probably nervous to meet up with any of them before the show, so they made plans for him to come to their box after the show.

They meet Jules and Emma, along with Jules' six brothers and sisters and some of their partners outside the room. Jem only brought Tessa along, but looks happy to be in the atmosphere of it all. And of course, Alec, Simon, Izzy and Magnus had all come out for the occasion.

They all pack into the box, excited to see what Kit was going to come out with. His album had been received really well, but it was the first concert any of them had done since breaking up, so they were hopeful that it would be really good.

Simon, Alec and Clary all stood right at the front of the box and were in full support of Kit the whole time, but one of Clary's favourite parts of the show was when Kit was singing 'On My Own', and sung the line "_Your company is fine, but I get on better with mine_" and pointed up at their box. Of course one of the best parts of a box was that people in the arena didn't know who was in them, but Clary still loved the gesture.

A little while after the show finished, Kit finally comes and meets them all. Clary, Alec and Simon quickly pounce on him to tell him what a great show it was and how proud they are of him.

Luke quickly greets him, and has a quiet little moment with him, which ends in a massive hug. Kit's dad didn't come out to the show, so she knew how much it meant to him that Luke did. Once all the private moments are over, Clary quickly begins introducing him to everyone in the room.

She takes special care in introducing him to both Ty and Livvy Blackthorn, not quite knowing who he'd like more, but knowing he'd really like them both. She winks suggestively before heading back to Jace, letting the three have a conversation. After a little more mingling, everyone but the core group heads home.

They all sit around the table in the middle of the room, and Clary is hit with a wave of deja vu. Towards the end of their last tour, when Jace, Izzy and Luke came to a few shows, they would all just hang out backstage, really trying to soak up what they thought would be their last moments like this, at least for a long time. But here they were now, proving that they didn't have to be in a band to feel like family.

"I would just like to say," Kit says, pulling Clary out of her thoughts, "a big thank you to all of you for coming out and supporting me tonight - it really does mean a lot. But I would like to say a massive thank you to Clary for confusing the f-" he quickly looks over at Luke and pauses for a moment, "the fudge out of me." Luke nods at him approvingly.

"What do you mean?" Clary asks, confused.

"You just had to go and introduce me to Ty and Livvy, didn't you!" Kit says, falling back into his chair dramatically.

"I thought you would like them! I mean I only got to talk to them for a little bit, but…" Clary says, hoping she didn't make some big mistake.

"I do! That's the problem. I like both of them and I don't know which one to choose… plus, I'm about to go on this massive tour!"

"Well, if I could say something on the topic," Jace says, resting his elbows on the table, "I don't think you should make timing a big factor in your decision - if Clary and I had, then there's a chance we wouldn't be married right now!"

"Well that's all well and good, but I don't even know which one I like more," Kits says, sighing very dramatically.

"Surely you like one of them a little more," Magnus says, looking sceptical.

"You would think," Kit says, rolling his eyes.

"Well, we can't tell you who to choose," Simon says.

"But if you had a crush on two people…" Kit asks, and then everyone quickly starts making fun of him; Kit, the self profound 'lone wolf', admitting to having a crush!

* * *

Song mention: On My Own by Niall Horan

I hope you liked that chapter! So my question for you is... Livvy or Ty? It's completely up to you! Let me know who you want Kit to be with, and whoever get's more votes is what will happen in the story! I hope you all have a great week and stay safe, see you next week :)


	15. Chapter 15: The Same Old Fight

**Chapter 15: The Same Old Fight**

Hello everyone and welcome back to another chapter! I hope you're all well. Before we get into the chapter, I would just like to say a massive thank you to SkyBell1272 and OliviaWhite55 for reviewing almost every chapter! You're reviews have really helped me write, and have helped me drive the plot of this story. I also wanted to say thank you to 2000s gal - your lovely comment made me smile for a long time. And a thank you to everyone else who has reviewed this story, even if it was only once - it really does make a difference! Thank you and on with the chapter!

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It had been a few months of hard work for Clary and Jace. Clary had been hard at work on her new album, which was close to being ready to record. She had written a lot that she was happy with, and the next step was beginning to decide what would actually be going on the album, and what would get pushed aside. Magnus had been in and out of the office all the time, setting everything up and getting everything ready. When he'd initially agreed to being Clary's manager, he thought it would be less work as he would only be managing one person instead of four. But because Clary was working with a smaller label and producing the music herself, it meant there was a lot more that was up to him to do.

She'd also begun thinking that she'd need another person in the band - she was used to having four, and thought that would be enough, but it was becoming apparent that it wouldn't be. Because of the music they were writing, there were extra instruments she'd never used on tour before. And she had plans to sing a few songs without a guitar, so someone would have to fill in for her then.

Jace had been getting ready to produce his first movie. He'd been in contact with directors, writers, actors and other producers he'd worked with before to see who would be willing to work with him. For the most part, there seemed to be a positive reaction to Jace wanting to take on this new role. Sure, a few people laughed at him and told him he should keep his 'pretty face' in front of the camera, but many had said they'd be happy to work with him.

He'd bought the rights to the book 'One Of Us is Lying', and was in the process of writing the script. Isabelle had been key in helping him with everything - Jace was pretty organised and meticulous, but it was Izzy who thought of the smaller details, who set up meetings and kept in on schedule. Simon was getting ready for his tour - which meant a fair amount of press and a lot of practice. Clary was almost constantly writing and putting the final touches on her album before she started recording, so it meant that Jace and Izzy were spending a lot of time together.

But it was okay, because Clary and Jace would drive to their office together in the morning, and drive back together at night. Jace was driving them back one night, when Clary turned to him.

"I have a secret," Clary tells him.

"Oh really?" Jace says, trying to sound interested, but Clary could tell his mind was somewhere else.

After a little while of silence Clary playfully says, "I promised not to tell."

"Then what's the point of telling me that you have a secret?" Jace asks, rather shortly.

"Well, I want to tell you," Clary says, "but I can't risk you telling other people."

"Best to keep it to yourself then, isn't it," Jace says, not looking at her as he talks.

"Is this some weird strategy to try and make me want to tell you… because it's not working," Clary asks.

"It's not like you're very good at keeping secrets anyway," Jace says. "You'll just tell me eventually."

"I've held some pretty big secrets from a whole 'lotta people for a long time, thank you very much," Clary says.

"Okay, well you're not very good at keeping secrets from me," Jace says, still not looking at her. Clary told herself he was just concentrating on driving.

"Well then, I'm keeping this one!" Clary says, crossing her arms.

Jace finally looked over at Clary and quickly flashed a smile, but it was gone as quickly as it came, and Clary could tell he didn't mean it.

"Well, you're going to know in a few days anyway," Clary admits.

"Does it have anything to do with us?" Jace asks, almost sounding a little stressed.

"Not really," Clary says. "But it has a fair amount to do with our friends.

"Right," Jace says as he pulls into their driveway. "Well then I guess I will know in a few days."

"I'm not even meant to know - I just overheard something," Clary says, getting out of the car and going into the house. "What do you want to do for dinner," Clary asks as she walks into the kitchen and then opens the fridge. "We've got chicken or salmon or…"

"Actually I've got a bit more work to do tonight, so I'll probably just have to eat in the office. Cook whatever you like," Jace says, already walking down the hall.

"Really?" Clary asks, "but you had to work last night as well. And the night before that."

"Well yeah, but you know I've got those big meetings on Friday and I need to make sure everything is perfect by then," Jace says.

"But that's like… four days away. Can't we just eat dinner together tonight and then you can do some more work if you need to," Clary asks.

"I need to do this now," Jace says, sounding annoyed. "I can't just leave for three months and call it work. I've got real deadlines and a real job to do here."

"So are you saying that what I do - my album and the rest of it, isn't real work?" Clary asked, getting annoyed herself.

"That's not what I meant - what I'm doing at the moment… there are a lot more moving parts and more people involved," Jace says, still sounding annoyed but realised he may have misspoken.

"So it doesn't matter to you that I moved people to L.A. for this? That Charlotte and Henry are putting their whole company on the line for my album?" Clary asks, finally moving out of the kitchen and toward Jace.

"Look Clary," Jace says, taking a step back from her, "I don't have time for this right now, okay? I've got to work. We can talk about it in the morning or something."

With that, Jace turns and walks down the hallway towards his office. Silently, Clary turns and heads back into the kitchen trying to not let what Jace said get to her. Of course he knew what she was doing was real and important. He was just stressed about work - it was the first time he was showing it to anyone in the business. He would be back to her normal Jace after his meetings.

She made them both dinner and brought it to Jace. He took the plate without a word and placed it on the desk next to him. She left the room, and when she was about half way down the hallway, she heard him yell out her name.

She quickly turned and went back to the room, expecting him to apologise, or ask if she wanted to eat with him, but all he asked was for her to shut the door. She flinched at the sound it made, but was sure he barely even heard it.

Much later night when Jace finally joined Clary in bed, he faced away from her and fell asleep in minutes, leaving her to wander if there was more behind this than just stress. She quietly got out of bed to lock the bedroom door, because she was sure he wouldn't have, and then got back into bed, making sure she stayed on her half.

But she didn't end up getting a chance to ask him what else was going on the next morning, because he told her he didn't have time to work out with her that morning, or even eat breakfast at home. She heard him get in his car and go to the office before she had even gotten dressed.

When Clary got to their office a little while later, she saw that Jace was already shut up in his room with Izzy, looking over the notes that covered the majority of one wall. She sighed before going into her own office and looking at the cards that held song titles all over one wall. All she really had left to do before recording was to choose the songs that were going on the album, and maybe start deciding the order. She knew what songs she wanted to start and end the album with, and there were a few others she was sure would end up on the album. But there was just so much to choose from. And it all had to be done by Friday, when she started to record. It seemed like Jace forgot that too.

Alec came in before she got the chance to actually start doing any work, and she quickly turned to him, grateful for the distraction.

"Did you do it?" she quickly asked. She assumed the answer was no, because she expected him to call her.

"No… there was no right time. And then I thought about it… could I do it here? Tonight?" Alec asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yes, that would be amazing! I'll make sure everyone is out of the office, and you can have the backyard if you want… it'll be perfect," Clary said, practically jumping with joy.

"Well actually, I was thinking maybe everyone could stay - I know Magnus probably expects some big gesture… how did Jace propose to you again?" Alec asked, looking really stressed.

Clary laughed a little and led him over to the couch. "In the back of a cab after I chased him through the airport."

"Right, well I think Magnus probably expects something a bit bigger than that," Alec said, smiling at the story.

"I think you're right," Clary says, leaning into Alec a little more.

"So I thought if everyone could be here - well not Kit, because he's on tour. But everyone else… then it would be a bit more grand. And I was thinking we could set up the backyard with fairy lights, and candles and flowers and sparkles and champagne. Just make it very Magnus… and then I can ask him in front of everyone… do you think that'll be enough?" he asked, looking genuinely concerned.

"I think it's the perfect blend of you and Magnus. He's going to love it," Clary says, smiling at Alec.

He let out a little sigh of relief and fell back into the couch. "I don't even know where to begin. He doesn't know I'm here at the moment, but he said he'd be coming here around five to see where you were at with everything, and then would be coming home after that."

"I can help you if you want. I know I'm not Izzy or anything, but I think we could make it look nice," Clary says.

"I mean, I would love the help. But you have your work to do, and you've probably already planned lunch with Jace-" Alec was saying, but was cut off by Clary.

"No. No plans - I'm free to help you all day."

He could probably sense the bitterness in her tone, and he looked over her shoulder at all the notes on the wall and narrowed his eyes at her. "What's going on Clary?"

"Nothing's going on - you know me… prefer to get all the work done before the deadline. Come on, I'll drive you to the shops and we can pick up some stuff," Clary said, quickly getting up. She knew that Alec would be able to tell something was wrong, but also that he wouldn't press her on it if she didn't want to talk. That was the good thing about the Lightwood's - they never forced anything out of you."

So Alec and Clary spent the rest of the afternoon driving around L.A. picking up everything they needed for Alec's proposal. They got back and had around half an hour of setting everything up in the backyard before Izzy came out.

"What are you two up to?" she asked, walking into the back yard.

"Would you believe us if we said setting up for dinner?" Alec asked. Izzy shook her head, looking amused. Alec rolled his eyes and walked up to his sister and showed her the ring.

As Clary predicted, she almost instantly started crying and jumping and hugging her brother. "Oh my god! This is all so cute - he's going to love it Alec, congratulations."

"Hey, he hasn't said yes yet!" Alec said, but hugged his sister anyway.

Simon came into the backyard then, "what are we celebrating?" he asked.

Alec flashed the ring at him, and Simon hugged him as well, "congratulations man."

"You knew about this?" Izzy suddenly asks Clary.

"I only found out yesterday because I overheard Alec talking on the phone," Clary said, holding her hands up in defence.

"I'll let it slide," Izzy says to her brother, "but only because I'm so happy for you."

Alec quickly explained the plan to them both. Simon said he'd go talk to Jace and Izzy ran around putting little touches on everything making it perfect. Clary went inside and started getting the champagne ready.

A little bit later, they heard Magnus' car door shut, and they all began lighting their sparklers. Clary noticed that Jace wasn't there, but she held onto his sparklers anyway, knowing he'd hear what was going on and come down quickly.

Magnus walked into the backyard looking confused, and then utterly shocked when he saw Alec down on one knee.

"Magnus," Alec said. "From the moment I met you, I knew there was something different about you. You've never judged me, or made me feel bad or guilty for being myself. You've carried me through some of the toughest years of my life and helped them become the best. The first time we danced together, to this song," he paused for a moment so everybody could hear Moon River playing, "time stopped. And there was a time where I wished we could stay dancing forever. But not anymore. Because every moment we've spent together since then has somehow been more magical. Magnus you add a sparkle to my life that I never want to be without. Will you do me the greatest honour of becoming my husband."

Magnus quickly wiped the tears from his eyes, and walked up to Alec. For the first time since Clary had known him, he seemed unable to talk, so all he did was vigorously nod his head. Alec quickly kissed him while everyone cheered and then slipped the ring onto his finger.

Clary turned to smile at Jace, but he wasn't there. She sighed, and put on a happy face to go congratulate Alec and Magnus. She quickly passed around flutes of champagne before taking two glasses herself and going up to Jace's office.

All the offices had one entirely glass wall to make the space feel more open, so Clary could see into Jace's room, and could see him sitting at his desk, working. He evidently didn't see her, because he jumped a little when she knocked on the door, but quickly motioned for her to come in.

She stood there for a moment, waiting to see if he'd say something, but he didn't. Clary placed the glass of champagne on his desk, and then sat in the chair across from him, taking a sip from her own glass.

"What's with the champagne?" Jace asks without looking up from the paper in front of him.

"I thought Simon told you?" Clary said, looking out the window to the backyard where everyone was still celebrating.

"Told me what?" Jace asked. He was still looking at the paper and making notes.

"About Alec and Magnus. About the proposal!" Clary said.

Jace looked up at her finally, but she suspected it was because she'd raised her voice and not because of what she'd said.

After a moment it seemed to click, "shit. Has that already happened?"

"Yes Jace, it has. And you missed it," Clary said with a big sigh.

"Okay well don't make me feel guilty about it. I was w-"

"Working," Clary finished. "I know. Alec was your best man, Jace. And he's your manager's sister. And Magnus is my manager. And they're pretty much our family. And they wanted you to be there."

"Okay, well, I fucked up, didn't I," Jace said, looking back down at the script in front of him.

"You're not going to go down there now and apologise. Or congratulate them?" Clary asked, becoming angrier. It was one thing for Jace to blow her off - maybe she deserved it, but she wasn't going to let him do it to their friends.

"Clary, I've told you this - I've got work to do," Jace said, looking up at his wife.

"And I don't care, Jace. You can take a five minute break to go down there and congratulate them.

He didn't look happy about it, but he reluctantly stood up and went down stairs and into the back yard. He kept looking at his watch the whole time he was down there, and after what Clary assumed was exactly five minutes, he went back up to his office.

Even though she hadn't gotten any work done that day, Clary went home soon after that, not feeling in the mood to be around Jace for much longer.

When he got home at around 11.00 that night, Clary was sitting on the couch waiting for him.

"I um, wasn't expecting you to still be up," Jace said as a way of greeting his wife.

"I know," Clary said. "But we need to talk."

"Look, if this is about this afternoon, I'm sorry. Time got away from me…" he said, but he didn't really sound sorry.

"That's not what I want to talk about," Clary said.

"Then what do you want to talk about?" Jace asks, sounding slightly bored.

"I want to talk about us-"

"Jesus Clary," Jace said, finally moving away from the front door, "we've talked about this. I've got big meetings on Friday and I need to work. So get over yourself, because there are bigger things going on right now."

"Since when has work been the most important thing in your life?" Clary asks, trying not to let what he said hurt her too much.

"Work's always been important to me," Jace said, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"That's not true. When we first met, you showed up late to set every day. You were always hungover. I know you almost got fired off that movie!" Clary said, trying hard not to yell.

"You know I've changed," Jace said, quickly starting to raise his voice.

"Yeah I know you did - into a person who would never put his work ahead of his family or friends. You turned into the man who flew home after I got hurt. Who became a loyal friend. You turned into the man I loved," Clary said. "So what happened? Why is this all suddenly so important to you?"

"You can't talk to me about prioritising work, Clary. You left! For three fucking months," Jace yells, throwing his bag onto the floor.

"Jesus Jace, we can't keep having this fight!" Clary yells back. "I left, and maybe that was a shitting thing to do. But apologised. And I can't take it back now. And anyway, I needed that trip - you even said that I seemed happier!"

"So what, are you saying I don't need this. Explain to me how this is different, Clary. You got yo focus on your work and now I'm focusing on mine," Jace says, staring straight at his wife.

"Because I told you what was going on!" Clary yells back. "Because I didn't leave until you said it was okay! But you've just disappeared from my life, and I'm left here trying to figure out what went wrong!"

"I was never okay with you leaving," Jace says, as if it explained everything.

"You told me you where," Clary says, pulling at her hair with frustration.

"Whatever, Clary. I don't have time for this right now, okay. I've got heaps of work left and I'm already exhausted. I just want to get to bed."

"Well I don't! I want to fight," Clary says walking up to him.

"Why would you want to fight?" Jace asks Clary, hanging his head.

"Because if we're not at least fighting then what are we doing here? Are we just two people living in a house who don't like each other or talk to each other anymore? Because that's not what I want."

"I still like you," Jace says, and then adds, "I still love you."

"Well, you're not really acting like it right now," Clary says, finally calming down. This wasn't where she wanted this conversation to go, but at least they were talking.

"I just need time, Clary. Just give me some time," Jace says, and then pushes past Clary and goes towards the spare bedroom.

For the next few days, it seemed like Jace was avoiding Clary at all costs. They slept in different bedrooms, he would leave the house most mornings before she'd woken up and leave the office well after she did. When they ate lunch he made sure that he was talking to Izzy the whole time, or he would just eat it in his office. He never really replied when Clary tried to talk.

But Clary had her own work to do. Jace may have been stressed about his meetings on Friday, but Clary started recording that day and she had to make sure everything was perfect. She'd prolonged this process enough already. She'd even talked to Simon so see if he knew anyone who'd be good in the band, and he'd put her in contact with George Lovelace. He was originally going to be in Simon's band, but because of timing he couldn't be. He seemed to fit in well with everyone so he'd been added to the ensemble.

Clary went home on Thursday anxious for what the next day would bring, but excited to finally get started.

Like all the days previous, Jace had left before Clary had woken up. Even though she was still angry at him, she sent him a text wishing him luck for all his meetings.

She met Jem, Emma, Julian, George, Charlotte, Henry and Magnus at the recording studio. It was nerve wracking to have so many people looking at her for direction, but it also felt pretty good. To start with, she wanted to see if it was possible for them to all play at once. She knew it was protocol to record one thing at a time, but she wanted to give this a go first and see what it sounded like. After a few takes, she decided to start recording everything individually as well, because it was going to be easier to mix later.

She had a successful day, and when she got home that night, she knew she was in a good position, and knew that this album was going to be good. She was surprised to see Jace sitting on the couch as she walked into the living room - not only because it had become rare for him to get home before her, but he usually retreated to the spare room or his office the moment he did.

"Hi," she said, still a little confused.

"I replied to your text," was the first thing he said, "but you never responded."

"I was busy… how'd all your meetings go?" she asks, sitting on the couch a little distance from him.

"Really good," he said, and Clary could see the relief on his face. "We got a writer signed on, and a director. We're going to start looking into production and actors and everything soon. It all went exactly to plan."

"I'm glad," Clary said. Not exactly sure how to respond. She was obviously happy for him - this was everything he'd been working towards. But it had been at a pretty high cost, and now that the movie was going forward, she could only assume that he was going to pull away even more.

"What were you busy with today. I had to run into the office for a little bit and I noticed you weren't there."

"I was at the studio - I started recording my album today," Clary said simply. When did they get this out of sync?

"Oh shit - that started today? Look Clary I've been acting like an ass this past week, sleeping in a different room and not talking to you at the office-"

"But you don't think the amount you've been working is an issue?" Clary asks.

"Well, no. I'm working hard because I want this movie to be great - I thought you of all people would understand that."

"I get wanting something to be great… but I also get being overworked to a point where you hate what you're doing. You need _balance_ Jace. You're burning the candle at both ends and soon you're not going to be able to do anything."

"Clary, you don't get to tell me how to do my job, okay. These are my choices to make," Jace says.

"Fine," Clary says, standing up, "but when you're sick and tired remember this conversation." With that, she goes down the hall to their bedroom. Despite everything, she still left the door unlocked, hoping Jace would come in, but he never does.

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Mentions: One Of Us Is Lying written by Karen M McManus and Moon River by Henry Mancini

I hope you all liked that. I had a few comments saying they got over everything too quickly, so I thought I'd bring some conflict back to the story! Who do you think is right and wrong, or is it a mix? Let me know! Also let me know if you want to see anything in the story, or just have any general comments - I love to read them all! Hope you have a nice and safe week :)


	16. Chapter 16: Two Separate Lives

**Chapter 18: Two Separate Lives**

Hello everyone! Thank you for coming back for another chapter, I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I've been reading all your reviews (thank you very much by the way!) and I'll focus a bit more on the other characters in the future. But on with this chapter first...

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Jace had the press tour for 'A Hero of Two Worlds' coming up in the next few weeks. Originally they'd planned for Clary to go to a few premiers with him, knowing that they'd be able to travel and sight see in between everything. Now, she wasn't even sure if she was welcome.

It was a Saturday morning which they usually spent going for a long walk to get breakfast somewhere, and then walking back and just relaxing for the rest of the day. It was meant to be a no work day - Jace wasn't allowed to work on his movie, or Clary on her music. She'd ignored this rule for Jace last week; they had still gone for their walk and breakfast, but after he came home he told her that he needed to work on the script some more. She got it - he had possibly the biggest meeting of his life coming up and she thought that everything would go back to normal afterwards. But now she wasn't so sure.

When Clary got out of bed on Saturday morning, she wasn't sure what she'd find in the rest of the house. She thought there was a possibility Jace would still be asleep - he had been working too hard for the past couple of days, but the bed in the room he'd been sleeping in was empty.

He wasn't in the living room either, but his wallet and phone were both on the kitchen counter, so she assumed he hadn't left the house. She quickly went and checked his office and a few other rooms before deciding to give up - if he didn't want to be found, then she wasn't going to keep looking.

There was something more going on - something a lot more personal. Clary had worked hard before, spending all hours of the day, and much of the night working on and perfecting an album, but she'd never pushed away those close to her. _Jace _had worked hard before, but it never seemed to come at the cost of giving up her.

He kept bringing up her travelling - how it wasn't fair that she left, that he never wanted her to go. And while that may have been true, Clary didn't leave until he'd told her he was okay with. And he seemed to get over it quickly enough after she got back, so she wasn't sure why it should be a problem now.

Wanting to get away from the house and Jace for a little bit, she decided to go for their walk alone, just thinking things over and trying to figure everything out while she did. She ended up walking a fair distance further than they would usually go, so decided to run back and try and find Jace and just talk this whole thing over.

Even if it meant fighting - yelling and crying, she knew it would be worth it. Because it seemed their other option was just ignoring each other, and she could only see that going on for a little while longer before one of them just decided to call it quits and leave.

How plans were stopped before they could even get started however, as Jace wasn't home when she got back. She didn't know if he'd only left for a little while, so she stayed in the living room for a while, not bothering to shower or get changed. She didn't want to miss her opportunity to talk to him.

She lost faith that he was coming home any time soon, so she finally went to shower and get changed out of her running clothes. When she got out of the shower and went back to the living room, Jace still wasn't home. Clary desperately wanted to talk to someone about what was happening, but didn't know who to call. Magnus and Alec had just gotten engaged and she didn't want to interrupt their happiness. Kit had never been too good at the whole relationship thing - even though Kit liked Jace, he would probably just tell her to leave him. And although she loved Izzy, she was too close to Jace. She knew Luke would want to drop everything to come to L.A. and help her, and she really didn't need that right now, so in the end she called the person who had loved her the longest.

She picked up the land line and sat on the back deck. It took her a few minutes to actually call Simon - she didn't want to break down the moment he picked up the phone; she really just needed his advice on what to do.

She dialled his number, and her plan broke down straight away.

"Hi Simon," she said, her voice already breaking.

"Clary, what's wrong?" Simon answered straight away.

"I need your help?" she replied, taking deep breaths to try and calm herself. Until now, she'd never admitted there was a problem. Some part of her felt that if it remained between her and Jace that it wouldn't be real.

"Are you okay? Are you in danger?" Simon quickly asked.

"Oh no, sorry. Nothing like that," Clary said. "I need your advice on something."

"Finally recognised my wisdom?" Simon asked, but she could tell his heart wasn't really in it.

"It's about Jace," she said, "I really don't know what to do."

"What's going on?" Simon asked gently. Although they were friends now, Simon had once greatly disliked Jace, and she didn't think it was going to take a lot to remind him of that.

"He's just so angry. And he's pushing me away and I don't know how to get close to him again," Clary said, silent tears finally falling.

"Why's he angry?" Simon asked.

"I think because I went away, but I'm not sure. He told me he was fine with it, and he seemed okay when I got back, but… he keeps making these comments, and he's focusing so much on work now… I don't know." Clary said, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"Are you sure it's that big of a problem - I mean Izzy's been really busy with everything as well. She's been working early and late and the rest of it - why don't you just give him a little more time?" Simon asked. She was surprised how level headed he was being about this; once upon a time he would have warned her off Jace in a second.

"Yeah but Simon, you and I have been busy before. We would work fifteen hours and day constantly be jet lagged… and we never pulled away from each other. If anything it made us closer."

Unknown to Clary, Jace had come into the house and seen her on the phone. He knew it was wrong, but he so desperately wanted to know what she was thinking that he picked up the other landline.

"Jace and I haven't slept in the same bed for over a week now," he heard her say. "I don't remember the last time we had a pleasant conversation. It's like he's a whole new person."

"So what, are you going to leave him?" Simon, he assumed, replied. Jace held his breath waiting for Clary's answer. He watched her from a distance, trying to read the set of her shoulders, her slumped posture.

"I don't know," came her reply, and he felt his world come crashing down. He quickly hung up the phone and went back to his car, knowing he couldn't face her now. Not when he felt like this.

Clary turned, thinking she'd heard something in the house, but no one was there, so she kept talking. "I don't want to. I still love him, so much. But if he doesn't love me anymore…"

"Clary, I don't see a world in which Jace Herondale doesn't love you. I think you need to find him, and just talk everything out - it's going to be hard, and probably painful, but you need to do it," Simon tells Clary. "Leaving him isn't the right option."

"Yeah… thanks," Clary says, knowing it's true, but having no idea where to even start.

"And," Simon says, "if after that, you still aren't sure, come over to my house and we can talk some more - you know you're welcome any time."

"Thank Si, I love you," Clary tells.

"I love you too, " Simon replies. "Now go talk to your husband."

Clary did want to talk to Jace, about so many things. But that was pretty difficult to do if she didn't know where he was and he wasn't answering any of her calls. She figured that he had to come home at some time - even if it was just to get a change of clothes or something.

She sat back down on the couch and stared at the door that led in from the garage, just willing Jace to walk in. She had thought about driving around and trying to find him, but she really had no idea where he might go, and thought her chances of catching him here were the best. Unfortunately, that meant Clary just had to sit there, letting her thoughts eat away at her. Eventually she couldn't take it anymore, and turned on the TV. She flicked through the channels for a little while, finding that nothing could hold her attention for more than a few minutes, when she came across a movie that Jace was in. He was probably fifteen years old. She leaned back into the couch, watching a Jace she'd never met but felt like she'd known forever.

Once that movie ended, she went onto Netflix and started watching another one of Jace's films. She was in the middle of her fourth movie and Jace still hadn't come home. She was beginning to suspect that he wasn't going to come home at all tonight. She wanted to be ready if he did however, so she paused the movie and collected some sheets, blankets and pillows to make herself a bed on the couch, hoping she'd wake up if Jace came home. Once she'd finished setting up her bed, her phone started to ring.

She was hoping it was going to be Jace, but Izzy's face came up on her screen.

"Hey Iz," Clary said, trying not to sound too disappointed.

"Hey Clary," Izzy said, with some yelling in the background. "So it turns out that Jace is our house at the moment, yelling at Simon."

Clary heard something crash in the background.

"I'll be over in a minute. I'm so sorry Iz," Clary said, while quickly putting on shoes.

"I'd bring a bucket," Izzy said, and then yelled something over her shoulder.

"Okay thank you Iz - I'll be over as soon as I can." Izzy hung up the phone without replying. Clary assumed Jace had been drinking, and that's why Isabelle had advised her to bring a bucket.

This was confirmed when Izzy met Clary outside her house, and quickly ushered her inside.

"Why would you talk to my wife like that?" Jace asked Simon. His speech was slow and slurred, and he was heavily leaning up against the wall.

"Jace," Clary called out, and tried to quickly look over at her, but somehow slipped and ended up on the ground.

"Clary?" Jace asks, struggling to stand. "How'd you find me?"

"The fairies." Clary answered, not amused. Apparently Jace was though, because he started to laugh, which apparently made it harder for him to stand.

"Come on, we're going home," Clary said, and tried to help him stand. But she was about half his size, which meant he did a better job at pulling her down than she did of standing him up.

Simon hurried forward to help her, and when he got up close, she whispered, "are you okay?"

Simon nodded back at her, and she couldn't see any marks on his face, so she assumed all Jace had done was yell. In this state, he probably would even be able to hit Simon.

"I'm sorry," she whispered again.

"It's not your fault," Simon answered, and then they pulled Jace to his feet. Simon and Clary led Jace out of the house and into Clary's car.

Once they'd gotten Jace's seat belt on, Simon quickly told Clary to "call me if anything goes wrong," and then Clary drove Jace home. While she would have preferred silence, Jace seemed to think singing along to the radio as loudly as he could was the best idea.

After parking, Clary tried to half carry Jace inside before dumping on the couch.

"Hey," Jace said, pointing at the TV, "you're watching my movie!"

"Mmmhm," Clary replied, trying to figure out what to do next. She could leave him to sleep on the couch - she had made up a bed after all, but she knew she'd just stress the whole night wondering if he was okay.

"Clary we need to talk," Jace said. While she did want to talk to him, he was currently slumped back into the couch because he couldn't support his own weight and his eyelids were drooping shut. There was no point talking if he was just going to forget it all the next morning.

"Tomorrow, when you feel better," she told him. She thought there was also no point in getting mad at him if he was just going to forget.

"I feel fine," Jace slurs out.

"Come on, let's go to bed," Clary told him. He heavily leaned on her the whole way to the bedroom, while continuously telling her that he was okay.

She put him gently down on the bed and then bent down to undo his shoelaces. She momentarily thought about getting him into some pyjamas, but thought it would just take too much effort.

"I'm mad at you, you know," Jace said, looking down at her.

Clary looked up at him.

"What are you mad at me for?" Clary asked. If sober Jace wasn't going to tell her, maybe drunk Jace would.

"'Cause you left me!" Jace said, as if that proved everything.

"And you said you were okay with it," Clary replied, pulling off his shoes.

"But it's not just that," Jace said, refusing to meet her eye.

"Then what else is it?" Clary asked, helping him take off her jacket.

"Everyone only cares about you," he said, pouting.

"What do you mean?" Clary asked, completely confused.

"I went to meetings and all they asked about was if you were going to be in the movie. Or if you were writing music! This is _my _movie. Not yours," Jace said lying back into the bed.

"Okay, well Jace that isn't my fault. You should have just talked to me about it." When Jace crossed his arms, Clary said, "I know this is your movie," before turning off the light.

If he wasn't going to hear her out, then she wasn't going to have this argument.

She got into her side of the bed and shut her eyes, ignoring Jace as he struggled to get under the covers. Thankfully, she fell asleep quickly.

But it wasn't for long.

She woke up a few hours later and the bathroom light was on, and she could hear Jace inside. Part of her told her to let him suffer on his own, but another part told her to go help him.

She rubbed her eyes before getting up and going to the bathroom.

Jace was sitting on the ground next to the toilet, and he wasn't in a good state.

"I'm sorry Clary," he sounded a lot more sober now. Sick, but sober. "You can go back to bed."

Clary smiled at him before flushing the toilet and sitting on the ground next to him.

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"I will be," he tells her.

"Well it's my job as your wife to wait with you until you start to feel better - or fall asleep again. Through sickness and health and all that," Clary says, looking straight ahead.

"Well, I haven't been a good husband, so I don't blame you if you just want to go back to bed," Jace says, leaning his head against the wall.

"I'll stay for a little bit," Clary says gently. She may have been angry at him, but that didn't mean she wanted to see him sick.

"I really am sorry," Jace says, and something in his tone makes Clary think he's talking about more than being sick in their bathroom at three in the morning. She looks over at him, and he's already looking back at her. His eyes are gentle and searching her face for anything she may not be saying. She nods back at him.

"I know I was making an absolute dick of myself," he says, "but I was just _so_ annoyed at you."

"For something completely outside my control," Clary says, fighting to keep her tone even. "You should have just talked to me."

"I know, but I didn't think you'd understand. You've always been so… good. You wouldn't understand why I'd be jealous of you," Jace says, sounding disgusted at himself.

"Maybe I wouldn't have completely understood you," Clary says, "but wouldn't it have been better than the last week? Than going and getting absolutely shit face drunk?"

"Today was about something else," Jace says quietly.

"Then what was today about?" Clary asks, desperate to figure this all out now so it could just be over with.

Jace takes a deep breath before saying, "I don't want a divorce Clary. I love you so much - I may not have shown it in the past week. But please, don't leave me. I'll get better. I promise I will."

"A divorce?" Clary asks. "Why would you think…" but then she remembered her phone call with Simon that afternoon. "How did you know about that?"

"I heard you… on the phone with Simon. Please don't leave Clary," his voice breaks.

"I'm not going to leave you Jace - I wasn't sure if you loved me anymore; I wasn't going to stay in a loveless marriage, but now I know…" Clary says, and when Jace doesn't reply, she looks over at him. The tension is out of his face, and his head is leaning against the wall again. Thinking he might be asleep Clary whispers, "why is this so hard?" to herself.

She's about to go get Jace some pillows and a blanket, knowing she won't be able to get him into bed and not wanting to wake him, but he whispers back, "_falling_ in love is easy; being in love isn't."

"What?" Clary asks, but he's actually asleep now. Deciding that they should finish their conversation when they've both had some sleep and Jace is better, she gets his blankets and then goes to sleep herself.

When Clary wakes up later that day, Jace is in the bed next to her. She smiles over at his sleeping form, glad to finally wake up in the same bed as her husband again.

She goes to the kitchen and makes them a pot of coffee and a light breakfast before going back to their room to wake Jace.

She was going to have this conversation now - she didn't care if he went back to sleep after.

She gives him a moment to wake up and drink some coffee before asking, "how much of last night do you remember?"

"Everything here at home," he tells her, taking another long sip of his coffee.

"Good, because I need to go over a few things with you," she says. She found it a lot easier to be straight with him when he didn't argue back like a three year old or didn't have his head in a toilet.

"Okay," he says, yawning. He quickly shakes his head, trying to wake himself up a bit more and then sits up straighter.

"I get you're going to be busy with all this new work - it's bigger and exciting. And I get it might not always go the way you want. But you can't push me away because of it. Just _tell_ me you're going to be more busy - I understand how crazy it can all get. I don't care if we can't eat dinner together every night, so long as you sleep in the same bed as me. Try to have a cup of coffee with me some time in the day. Even if you just call me for three minutes telling me how everything is going!"

Jace nods at her. He knew he'd been pulling away. He didn't want to be, but he felt so much pressure - he had to prove that he could do this to all the naysayers, to Clary, to himself. And then everyone kept asking about Clary so he thought if he could just distance himself from her completely, then people would stop asking. But everything seemed to just be ten times harder without Clary around. "I promise to pull away again. _You_ are my priority, now and always. Just tell if I am, okay?"

"I don't have to be your priority all the time," Clary tells him, "I just still need to be in your life."

Jace nods at her again, but doesn't say anything.

"Which brings me to," Clary says, "me travelling. Jace I can't keep having the same fight. So say what you want to now and then let's be done with it."

"I didn't like that you left," Jace says. "And I don't want you to do it again; at least not the same way. I get you're going to go on tours and all of that, but you can't shut me out either. I know sometimes you go through things that I can't even begin to understand, but you can go through them with me - I'm not going to stop you from trying to figure whatever you're feeling."

"I am sorry that it happened like that, and I promise I won't ever do it again," Clary says.

"Okay," Jace says, "thank you."

"And the last thing I really wanted to talk to you about is your press tour," Clary says, "I know we talked about me coming to a few premiers with you, which I'm still happy to do. But if you don't want me to be there, I'm fine with that. You deserve the spotlight to be on you."

"No, no - I want you there! What's the point of doing this all if there's no one to share it with? Please come Clary. Don't let my being an ass stop you," Jace says quickly.

"If you really want me there-"

"I do!"

"Then I'll come," Clary says, smiling at Jace. He kisses her on her temple, and she leans into him. It finally felt like she had her old Jace back.

As promised, Clary went to some of Jace premiers with him - she left him to go to few on her own, both because she thought it would be good for him, but because she was still recording her album as well, and she couldn't keep leaving every few days.

When he got back from his press tour, he went back to work on creating his new movie, and just like he promised, he kept Clary in the loop about everything. It felt like they were finally back in their groove.

* * *

So that's finally started to sort itself out! As promised, I'm going to visit some other characters in the next few chapter, so let me know what you want to see! Stay happy and healthy :)


	17. Chapter 17 A Big Release, A Big Surprise

**Chapter 17: A Big ******Release****** And a Big Surprise**

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another chapter! I would like to start by saying a massive thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter - I know I ask every chapter for you guys to leave a review but actually getting that many made me really happy! This chapter is a little on the shorter side, but I still like it. Let me know if there is anything you'd like to see in this story! I don't mind how big or small the idea is - I'll try my hardest to include it :)

* * *

After Jace came home from his premieres, he went on steadily working on his new project, while Clary worked hard to finish off her album. She had been recording for about two months before she was finished, and then there was the whole business about mixing everything, and making sure it sounded like she'd imagined. Once all of that was done, she had to go over all of the marketing, film music videos and set up a press tour for the album… suffice to say it took a few more months of work before she was ready to release her first album.

They had all decided to see what sort of feedback it got before setting up the tour - as much as she hated the numbers game, it wouldn't bode well for her to have a completely non-sold out tour.

They'd also decided not to make a massive deal about her first single. She remembered when she was in the band, about how much press they had to do before a song had even been released. About how much they had to sell their own music until she didn't know if it was popular because it was good, or because it had been shoved down people's throats so much they just gave in and listened to it.

She decided this time the music was going to do well because it was good, and for that reason alone. She was still going to do a press tour, but one that was a lot more radio shows, and more because her fans seemed to love to see her and hear what she had to say. So it was more of a thank you than a promotion tour.

Despite how differently she was approaching it, this wasn't a totally new experience for Clary. She'd recorded, promoted and released an album before - it didn't make it any less nerve racking, but maybe more comfortable. She was now sharing this experience with four people who had never released music before - at least not at this calibre. They had recorded with choirs and orchestras in state of the art recording studios…

And as much as this music was Clary's - it was _her_ solo album after all, it didn't entirely feel that way to her. She'd written most of the music with her band, she'd recorded it all with them and they'd had a pretty big impact on the mixing and post production. They was just as nervous as Clary was.

"So _Light's Up_ is being released today…" Clary told her band who were seated around the dining table at Clary's house. "It's a big day."

"I've never felt like this before…" Emma told her, "like I really want people to hear it, but I kind of want it to stay ours."

"I completely understand," Jem told her, "I've only ever written music for those close to me to hear… and I'm excited it's just…"

"What if people don't like it?" George finishes.

"This has been months and months of hard work… it'd be kind of shitty for it to just get put straight on the sales rack," Jules says.

"Secretly I don't think that's going to happen," Clary says. She'd played the album for a few people, and everyone had loved it so far. "But even if it does… who really cares? We've made an album that we love, and we'll listen to it - so that's time well spent in my books."

"Yeah, let's be positive people!" Emma says, "think of everything we've done!"

"And," Clary adds, "within the next couple of weeks you'll be able to say you've performed on the Graham Norton Show, Jame Cordon, Jimmy Fallon, SNL… it doesn't matter if everyone thinks the album is shit - we're booked for them already."

"I guess when you put it that way…" Julian says, running into the kitchen, "it's time to celebrate!" He grabs a couple of beers out of the fridge and brings them over to everyone, where they all cheer on all the work they've done, and everything to come.

"I hope you're not celebrating without me…" Magnus says, coming into the kitchen.

"It's not a party without you, Magnus," Jem says, laughing while going to get Magnus a beer.

"I didn't even hear you come in… it's like you're magic," George says in awe.

"The party calls me, darling," Magnus says, accepting the drink from Jem and then taking a seat between Emma and Jem.

"And he has the code," Clary adds, blowing a kiss across the table.

"So this is all well and good," Emma says after finishing her second beer, "but aren't we actually meant to be… you know… releasing music today?"

"I was thinking half an hour's notice should be enough?" Clary says, taking out her phone to check the time - about ten more minutes.

"But it's not really half an hour when you think about it - you're not actually giving them any information," George says.

"I think you're crazy for doing it this way," Magnus says, and then takes a slow sip of his beer.

"It's not the best idea to call girls crazy," Jules says, looking at Emma in a way that tells Clary he's been told off several times for doing it himself.

"It might be a little bit crazy," Clary admits, "but what would life be if we didn't take some risks?"

They were of course talking about Clary's plan to release the song. Essentially, they'd filmed a video of Clary walking through a big field of flowers, with her back to the camera as she walked towards the sunset. There was the piano version of the melody of one of the songs from the album playing in the background, and then the screen fades to black with Clary's hand writing saying 'soon' coming across the screen. She was going to post this video along with a 'new music coming soon' message to all of her social media, and then she had to change all her profile pictures and banners to pictures of her in the field.

They assumed that most people would think this meant new music would be released in the coming days or weeks, but she was actually going to be releasing the song and video clip about half an hour later.

She was going to spend that half an hour responding to fans on social media, without actually giving away any important information.

Jace came home five minutes before Clary was releasing the song so that they could all be together when it happened and see the first reactions together. When she was in the band, Clary was barely ever actually present when something went live. There were times that music had been released and she wasn't made aware of it until she noticed everyone talking about it on social media. So this was very different. It was more personal.

And that meant it meant so much more when all of the positive feedback started coming in. Sure there were some people with slightly negative comments - mainly about how surprised they were and that they were expecting a much more 'pop' sound to come from Clary. But for the most part everything was so positive and encouraging that it made Clary's heart sing.

This positive buzz remained throughout the press tour, in which more singles were released, usually when she performed something new on a talk show. A lot of the reviews talked about how surprised they were that she went in this direction - both Kit and Simon's albums had less of a pop feel than when they were all in the band, but she was the first to really stray away from the genre.

By the time she released her album, Light's Up - which she'd released about a month earlier, was still in the charts. Jace took her out to dinner to celebrate, and really to pull her away from everything. She could tell everyone that numbers didn't matter until she was blue in the face, but at the end of the day she did really want the album to succeed. And Jace taking her out was pretty much the only thing that was going to stop her from sitting at home and staring at her computer screen trying to track all the numbers and read everyone's reviews.

"Cheers to you," Jace says, holding up his glass of champagne to Clary, "for an amazing album."

"And cheers to you," Clary says, "your movie's about to start filming, _and_ you are directing. That's massive!" While Jace had initially planned on only producing the movie, he hadn't been able to book any of the directors he wanted (none were available at the time he needed them), so he thought instead of hiring someone he'd prefer not to, he'd gamble on himself a little more.

"Thank you," Jace says, "but tonight's about you and your amazing success! How does it feel?"

"Like I can finally breathe again," Clary says, laughing a little, "Charlotte and Henry said that even without the album being sold yet this has been their biggest release and most successful release, so it's good to know I won't be the cause of their studio shutting down. And really, there's nothing else I can do to the music now, so I can stop stressing about it and finally properly enjoy it!" For good measures, she took a large sip of champagne.

"It really makes you think…" Jace says, a little later into the night, "how far we've come. I mean we're married and we're both independent now and doing what we love… next thing you know we'll be having kids!"

"I've got to tour this album first," Clary says, making sure to hold Jace's eye contact so he'd know she was serious, "and you've got to film your movie. But after that I'll be ready. What do you think?"

"I think that sounds amazing," Jace says, showing off his perfectly chipped incisor in a toothy smile.

"So it's a plan," Clary says smiling back. "Once we're a little less busy, we'll start trying."

The joy of the dinner, and what came after meant that Clary was completely distracted for the rest of the night, and didn't even think to check up on her album until she woke up the next morning.

Thankfully, all of the reviews were very positive.

It had been about a month since Clary had released her album. Her time had been pretty much consumed with starting to plan for tour, and doing a little bit more press for the album. Jace had also started filming his movies, and absolutely loved being behind the camera. He was working with mainly teenage actors who had worked a lot less than him, so they formed a really good relationship trying to get as much advice from him as possible.

Simon was also about to start his tour, which is what Clary assumed he wanted to talk to her about. She, and everyone else, were all going to his concert in a few days, and she thought he may have been nervous about performing without them. Honestly Clary had thought about it a few times herself.

Simon, however, was on an entirely different wavelength.

"It's time," Simon told her when she arrived at his house.

"For what," Clary said, looking around the room like it might give her a clue.

"I'm going to propose to Izzy," he said.

"Simon!" Clary said, quickly hugging him. "That's amazing. Congratulations!"

"Thanks,"he said, looking almost giddy. "And I've been thinking about how to do it best. I thought about small and intimate, maybe at a restaurant, with you guys… and then I realised that with Izzy the bigger the better."

"I definitely agree…" Clary said, trying to figure out where she fit into this equation.

"And I have a plan, but I'm going to need your help…"

Simon and Clary planned for a little while, got their friends, family and band mates involved, and even hired more people, so that it was all ready for Simon's first show.

They were all standing side stage watching Simon's show - Izzy seemed a little confused as to why they weren't in a box, but seemed to just go with it. About three quarters into Simon's show, he told the crowd that he had a little surprise for them - a first concert exclusive.

As he said this, a row of trumpet and violin players, including Emma, Julian and Jem, lined the back of the stage, and began playing the intro to 'All You Need Is Love.'

Once Simon had begun playing, Jace led Izzy out onto the stage with a chair so Simon could sing to her. Slowly as the song built up, more people came out, including Alec, Kit and Clary to join into the ensemble of instruments and voices.

Once the song ended, Simon got down on one knee, which was met by a staggeringly loud scream from the audience, and he asked Izzy to marry him, which she very quickly jumped up and said yes to.

Simon finished his concert as if on a high, and practically ran for Izzy when he got off the stage. As a sort of celebration after the concert ensued, which Clary was surprised to find Maia, whom Luke had brought, and Jordan, the bassist for Simon's band really hitting it off.

Izzy also seemed to be on cloud nine, as if she'd never expected such a spectacular thing to come from Simon, but honestly, neither had Clary!

* * *

Song Mention: All You Need Is Love by The Beatles

So there you go... lot's happening! Like I said before, if you have ANY ideas for the story I would love to hear them! Not matter how big or small, I'll work them in! Hope you all are staying safe and sane. I'll see you next week :)


	18. Chapter 18: Family Is Everything

**Chapter 18: Family Is Everything**

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another chapter! I know it may feel like the last few chapters have been a bit filler and I'm sorry about that! I can promise for the next little while that something big is going to happen in every chapter - starting with this chapter right now...

* * *

A few weeks after Simon's first concert Clary released all of her tour dates. They had purposely spread out the shows so it wouldn't be so action packed, but had to end up adding a few more after all the concerts sold out so quickly. The new shows sold out quickly as well, but Clary decided she'd not going too far this tour so she didn't add anymore after that.

The layout of the tour still gave her enough time to go home for a while in between each continent, and gave them all time to explore some places in between concerts. It was also timed really so Jace would be able to travel around Europe with her. It was the last leg of her tour, and Jace would be all finished with his movie by then, so it would give them time to just relax and be together.

Tour prep was also a lot less intense than it had ever been with the guys. She was the only one that had to learn any sort of choreography, but it wasn't really heavily sketched out, so it was more just about figuring out if she had to be somewhere specific and getting comfortable not being behind a guitar or drum set.

She was still going to play guitar for some songs, but they'd decided for a few others that she'd go without so she'd have more opportunity to move around the stage and interact with fans. There was also the fact that her album was only twelve songs long, which meant she'd have to choose a few others to add to the line up. She chose a couple of songs from the old band - it was something that Kit and Simon had both done, so she chose songs that they hadn't performed. She also decided to re-write the music to better suit the style of her album so it wouldn't be too jarring.

She also decides that she'll cover 'She's Electric' by Oasis on the tour - but that song only! She vowed never to learn a new song for each show again. It was too stressful, and something she didn't need to do.

So she spent about a month just prepping for tour, doing the occasional radio show and visiting Jace at work.

She remembered going in one day and hanging around for a little bit - she never really got to hang out with Jace, because he was usually busy, but there were plenty of other people to talk to, or she would just sit and watch Jace working. She loved how absorbed he could get in it. How he could notice one small thing that she wouldn't think of checking in a thousand years.

And she loved how his face lit up when he saw her - even if she'd been there for hours and he'd only just noticed. He never ignored her - and she never brought it to his attention that she'd arrived. They'd set some boundaries, work wise. They both gave each other the space to do what they needed to, but promised to never shut each other out. To always tell the other if there was a problem, or if something was going really well. They'd worked hard to get past their stupid quarrelling, and it helped. It really helped.

Jace wasn't moody when Clary left for tour, because they'd left with a plan. They both set aside 5 minutes a day to call each other, and decided they'd reassess every few weeks if the time needed to change because Jace had a weird schedule or Clary was changing time zones. Clary would come home after each leg for three weeks, and Jace would fly out to wherever she was on the weekends he had free.

"You know, I don't think I'll ever quite get used to this," Jem said, watching a TV screen that showed thousands of people already in the arena, despite them not going on stage for another three hours.

"You won't," Clary said, who was still amazed that people decided to support her this much.

"I don't want to," Jules said, hitting his drum sticks gently on the arm of the couch he and Emma were on.

"Give me those," Emma said, leaning across him to snatch the sticks out of his hands. He fought back for a second, but eventually let her win, laughing as he feel back so his head was in her lap.

She looked over at Magnus, who was watching them with an expression she'd seen before, but couldn't quite place.

Well, I for one," George said, slowly raising his hands and resting them behind his head, "am quite comfortable."

"Is that so?" Magnus asked, with a smirk. "I guess you're lucky you're touring with Clary and not some… hideous monster."

"Sorry to interrupt," someone said, standing at the door of the room they were all in, "but someone's trying to come back stage. They say their Mr Blackthorn's sister."

"All of my sister's are in L.A," Jules tells the man, who nods back.

"Hold on," Emma yells out, "I wanna see this." She quickly shoves Julian off her, and then grabs his hand as she head's for the door in pursuit of the fake sister.

"Okay, I'm just going to say it," Clary says once they're out of ear shot, "when are they going to get together?"

"I don't know, but I wish they'd just get on with it," George says, laying down on the couch they had just occupied. "I haven't witnessed that much sexual tension since being on the farm during mating season…"

"I don't know," Magnus says, looking slightly disturbed.

"About what?" Jem asks, trying not to laugh at his expression.

"Well about that example to start with…" Magnus says, "but also about Emma and Jules. I've seen two people that close before - in a very similar situation, and nothing ever came of it. If anything, I feel stupid for everything it would happen, now I know how it all turned out."

"Who?" Clary asks, not being able to think of anyone who fit the description.

Magnus looks at her for a moment before smiling. "You and Simon."

"What?" Clary asks, shifting a little uncomfortably in her chair. She'd only ever really thought of Simon as her best friend. Closer to a brother than anything else. "Simon and I would never…"

"I know that _now_," Magnus says, "but I remember when I first met you all… and you two were so close, and I just couldn't help but think that maybe something would come of it."

"So what, you think Emma and Jules are destined to be like Simon and Clary?" George asks.

"I don't know…" Magnus says. "They just remind me of each other is all."

"Simon and I were never like that though," Clary says.

"Like what?" Emma asks, coming back into the room.

"Oh… like… these dancers Jem was telling us about," Clary says, quickly trying to think of something.

"How's your sister?" Jem asks, trying not to smile.

"Unfortunately, she had red hair and blue eyes… she'd never pass for a Blackthorn," Jules says, kicking George's feet away to make more room on the couch for him and Emma.

"She'd be better off trying to pass as Clary's sister than Jules'," Emma says, quickly sitting down beside him.

"But everyone knows that Clary only has a brother, and after a quick google search you'd figure out that Jules has more siblings than he can count," Magnus explains. "She probably thought it was her best ticket in her."

"Jules took a photo with her anyway… she was actually kind of cute," Emma says, "don't you think, Jules?"

"Yeah, sure…"

They'd been on tour for a few months, and it had all been going well. Clary hadn't gotten any closer to figuring out Emma and Jules' relationship, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. Clary would try and set Emma up with people she knew, but she'd ever really go on one date, and Jules would act cool about it, but she suspected that he was really just trying to hide the truth.

She'd gone home to see Jace a few times, and they'd managed to call each other everyday, even if it was only for a few minutes sometimes. He was flying out in a week or so to finish the tour with her now that his movie had finished shooting.

It was in the early stages of editing now, and he'd be back in time to start making the more serious decisions. He'd said that everything had gone well - they'd managed to stay on schedule and on budget so far, and now it was just about putting it all together.

Clary found out some big news with about a month of tour left, but decided to keep it to herself for now. She knew that Jace probably wouldn't like it, but she had her reasons, and she'd tell him as soon as the tour finished, which wasn't really that far away any way.

It did mean that she had to hide a few things from him, and he never said anything, but she caught him looking at her weirdly a few times, and she was worried he was close to figuring it out.

They'd been home for about three hours, when Jace proposed they celebrate Clary's successful tour and their homecoming with a bottle of champagne on the beach.

"Actually Jace," Clary said, "I've got something to tell you."

"Is this about how you've been acting lately - if I've done something wrong, you can just tell me. I promise to react exactly how you want." Jace says, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"It's nothing you've done," Clary quickly tells him, "and how could you _know _how I want you to react?"

"You can just tell me beforehand," he says, "I'm a great actor you know."

"Okay, well… I'm going to tell you… but I want your genuine reaction okay - I don't care what it is," Clary says.

"Okay…" Jace says, sounding a little sceptical.

"Are you sure you're ready…" Clary asks, stepping back from him.

"Just tell me already!" Jace says impatiently.

Clary takes a deep breath before saying, "I'm pregnant."

"What?" Jace asks in disbelief.

"I'm pregnant," Clary says again, trying to catch his reaction.

"Really," Jace asks, starting to smile.

Clary nods, and smiles back at him.

"But how…" Jace asks, almost in disbelief. But it seemed more like excitement, with his massive smile and tears welling up in his eyes, than anything else.

"I really thought you'd already know all this… it does take two to tango," Clary says, laughing as he rolls his eyes.

"That's not what I meant… when?" Jace asks.

"I think it might have been in New York," Clary says, "I stopped my birth control after we seriously talked about having kids… and we didn't use any protection…"

"That's amazing. You're amazing," Jace says, coming to his senses and quickly picking Clary up, hugging her tightly.

"We're going to be parents. We're going to have a baby," he whispers in her ear.

They go down the beach anyway - without the champagne, to celebrate.

"I don't think we should tell anyone just yet," Clary says later that night while they're laying in bed.

Jace looks over at her a little confused, but nods anyway.

"At least until three months - just in case anything happens. But the thought of anything happening to the tiny child growing inside Clary broke their heart already.

"Alright," Jace says. He knew he'd do practically anything for Clary - he'd know that always, but it rang especially true for him tonight. Because now it was about more than just Clary. It was about his family - the thing he would do absolutely anything for.

* * *

So there you have it! Clary is pregnant and they are finally going to have some kids! It isn't going to come right away - I've got some other stuff planned before that happens, but I hope you're excited anyway! I've pretty much already come up with all the main stuff for their kids - names, genders and personality's, but I'd love to hear what you think or want to see - I'm always open to change what I've got! Stay safe and happy, and I'll see you next week :)


	19. Chapter 19: More Surprises

**Chapter 19: More Surprises**

Hello everyone! Hope you're all happy and healthy. Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter - I've just been super busy at university lately which doesn't leave a lot of time for writing. I hope you like the chapter anyway!

* * *

"So what's your plan?" Jace asks Clary, helping her get into the car.

"We're just not going to tell anyone - they haven't noticed yet, and none of the attention should be on me today, so I'm sure it will be fine." Clary replies to Jace as he gets into the driver's seat.

They were meeting Simon and Izzy at their house before all going to Alec and Magnus' wedding together.

"But don't you think people are going to be suspicious that you're not drinking," Jace asks, while turning out of their driveway.

"We've been over this - I'm just going to accept any drinks I might be offered, and then you're going to drink them. No one's going to be paying enough attention to me to figure out the truth. We agreed to tell them in two weeks - that marks three months," Clary says.

"I'm not sure you've thought this all the way through, but I'll help you however I can," Jace replies, reaching across the car to take his wife's hand.

"Good," Clary replies, squeezing his hand a little, "because today is all about Alec and Magnus - I'm not going to be taking any attention off them!"

"At least you're not showing yet," Jace said, rubbing her belly before taking her hand again.

"Yeah, but I've already started to put on weight - it's so noticeable," Clary said, looking in the mirror in the car, "I feel like I'm double my normal size - I had to buy a new dress and everything."

"You're absolutely beautiful - stunning. You've been amazing so far Clary - you're literally making humans inside of you, so cut yourself some slack. The doctor said you should be gaining weight anyway."

"Whatever," Clary said, unable to stop looking in the mirror until they pulled up to Simon and Izzy's house.

It was later proven, however, that Clary had not thought it the whole way through. While sitting and watching the ceremony, Clary felt a wave of nausea pass over her and she just begged for the feeling to go away. She'd had pretty bad morning sickness for a while, but thought that it was finally starting to go away.

Simon looked over at her, looking concerned, but she quickly waved him away, and paid attention to Alec and Magnus, hoping the feeling would quickly pass. Thankfully it did, and Clary was able to enjoy the rest of the ceremony without the worrying thought that she was going to show her breakfast to everyone.

She was later pulled to the bar by Kit and Izzy, who demanded that they all do shot's to celebrate Magnus and Alec. Alec, surprisingly, even came over and joined them, "what the hell," he said, "I just got married!"

Jace seemed to figure out what was going on, and as everyone closed their eyes, he quickly downed Clary's shot before putting the glass on the table in front of her.

"It's time for speeches darling," Magnus said, "everyone get a glass of champagne, and then back to your tables!"

There were a number of speeches, including one from Jace, who was Alec's best man. Clary would pretend to take a sip after each speech, and every now and then would pour some of her glass into Jace's so people would think she had been drinking it.

She thought she'd managed to get away with it too - specifically ordering soda with lime, hoping people would just assume there was vodka in the glass as well. She sat down for a little while, watching everyone on the dance floor while giving herself an opportunity to rest her feet. Simon came and sat down with her, and they watched Izzy and Jace dancing together, commenting on things every few minutes.

"Hey are you okay?" Simon eventually asks.

"What? Yeah I'm fine," Clary replied, not taking her eyes off the people dancing.

"Are you sure - because you looked like you were about to be sick early today, and I've noticed that you're not drinking," Simon says. He picks up her glass and takes a sip for good measure, "see this is only soda." She could see him still looking at her out of the corner of her eye, so with a roll of her eyes she faces him.

"I'm fine - I think I ate something funny last night, but I didn't want to draw any attention away from Alec and Magnus," Clary said. There was a partial truth in this - she'd eaten tuna for the first time since becoming pregnant last night, and it _had _made her sick.

"I've been noticing other things too Clary - you picked all the pepperoni off your pizza the other week, and you _love_ pepperoni," Simon said, as if this was some great point.

"I've recently found out it's very fattening," Clary replied quickly, "so I've been trying to avoid it."

"I think something else is going on, Clary. I think we both know what it is." Simon said, and Clary knew that somehow, Simon knew the truth.

Clary quickly jumped up and dragged Simon after her to a more private area of the hall they were in.

"Simon I promise you, I'm fine, I just feel a little sick is all," Clary said.

"Clary, you've always been a bad liar. We both know what's going on here," he quickly looks down at her stomach, "but why haven't you told anyone?"

"We're waiting for three months," Clary says, giving in. "So could you please not tell anyone - just in case something goes wrong."

"Of course. But nothing's going to go wrong, Clary" Simon says before hugging her. "Congratulations by the way."

"You know Izzy's probably going to kill you when she finds out that you knew before her," Clary says as they sit back down at their table.

"Eh, I can endure a little killing for you," Simon says, nudging her with his shoulder softly. "But maybe it would be best if we keep this between us as well - just in case."

"You know I never thought you would be the one to do everything first," Simon says after a little while. "I always thought Alec would get married first and Kit would get some poor girl pregnant."

"I didn't think I'd be first either - I actually thought I'd be last for both… until I met Jace," Clary says.

"I guess you just got to wait for the right person," Simon says.

"The right person for what?" Izzy says, sitting down next to Simon. Jace sits next to Clary a moment later.

"We were just talking about how we didn't think I'd be the first to get married," Clary says smoothly.

"We both thought it would be Alec," Simon adds.

"I thought Alec would get married first too," Magnus pipes up, sitting at one of the spare seats at the table, still holding hands with his new husband. "And it always made me _very _sad because I didn't think it would be to me," he adds dramatically.

"Well I guess you were wrong on both accounts then," Alec says, smiling at him.

"I've never been more happy to be wrong," Magnus says, kissing him on the cheek.

"Who do you think's going to have the first baby?" Izzy suddenly asks, and Jace squeezes Clary's hand a little bit.

"Simon and I agree it's still going to be Kit - I mean just look at him," Clary said, pointing over at the dance floor where Kit was currently dancing _very_ close to a girl he'd only met today.

Simon flashes Jace and Clary a smile that goes unnoticed by everyone else.

"I suppose you're right," Magnus says, with a tone of disgust. "I was hoping it'd be you two," he says over to Clary and Jace.

"You never know," Jace says. "We could pop off to the bathroom now if you want… get started on everything."

"Never say anything like that again, please," Simon says, looking away.

"I thought I'd have to wait for Jace to turn 50 before he even thought about getting married, and that he'd have an onslaught of kids he couldn't keep up with by that time… so I mean… if you really want to, off you go!" Izzy says.

"We're good, but thanks," Clary says and everyone laughs. Clary didn't know if they'd be laughing in a few weeks when they found out she'd been lying out of her ass to them.

"I'm nervous," Clary whispers to Jace.

They were currently at their three month doctor's appointment, and after this they would tell everyone - assuming everything went well.

"Why?" Jace asks.

"I don't know… something just feels… weird."

"I do have some news," the doctor says to them, "it's all good."

Clary and Jace both sigh a breath of relief before the doctor continues, "I know you said you didn't want to know the gender of the baby,"

"We want it to be a surprise, if that's okay," Jace says, looking down at Clary to make sure she still agreed.

"You're having twins," the doctor tells them, smiling. "You can see hear," she says pointing at the monitor, "one baby, and the other."

"Oh my God," Clary says, looking up at Jace, "twins."

"I love you," Jace says, leaning down and kissing Clary. While they had talked about having babies, Clary being pregnant now was a surprise and now this…

"I love you too," Clary replies.

"Do you think they're going to be identical?" Clary asks Jace as they drive home.

"I don't know - secretly I hope not. I want them to be their own person. But I'll still love them either way," Jace said reaching across and resting his hand on her belly.

"Me too," Clary says, smiling across at him.

As they pull into their driveway, they see that all their friends' cars are already there.

"I guess they're around the back," Jace says, pulling into the garage.

This is confirmed when they walk into their house and see everyone already on their back deck.

"Make yourselves at home, why don't you," Jace says as he opens the doors letting them into the house.

"I don't know why you haven't given us the code Jace," Izzy says, walking in and heading straight for the fridge. "You have a key for our house."

"Maybe it's because we like a little privacy and we know we'll never get any if you could get in whenever you wanted to," Jace replies.

"Privacy's overrated," Izzy responds.

"Well, actually we have something that we have to tell you all," Jace says, walking over to Clary, "and it was a _private_ matter until now."

"You mean you kept a secret from us!" Magnus says, looking as shocked as he sounded.

"We had to," Clary responds, "just for a little while."

"What secret could be so big you had to keep it from _us_?" Kit asks, "it's not like you're knocked up."

"Actually," Clary says, smiling at them all.

"Wait, actually!" Izzy asks, almost screaming.

"Three months today," Clary says, resting her hand on her stomach.

They all huddle in close so they can hug Clary and Jace, and when they finally separate, Jace says, "that's not all."

"What, are you moving to fucking… I don't know, Paris?" Kit asks, looking like nothing would surprise him now. He'd never thought Clary would get married _or_ pregnant so quickly - he thought they were more alike than that.

"No," Clary says, laughing, "actually," she looks up at Jace, "it's two babies - we're having twins."

"Oh my God!" Izzy wells, quickly hugging Clary again.

"Twins, ah? You didn't tell me that," Simon says.

"I only found out today," Clary replies.

"Wait a minute," Izzy says, slowly turning towards her fiance. "You knew she was pregnant, and you didn't tell me?"

"Shit," is all Simon says, as he hurries away from the onslaught of hits coming from Izzy.

"Hit him harder!" Alec yells, laughing as Simon runs away.

Despite how much was changing in all their lives, they never really seemed to grow up, Clary thought.

* * *

So Twins! Do you think they're going to be identical? Let me know! Also thanks to everyone who has been reviewing! It is a massive help with motivation (which I'm lacking all round lately). I hope everyone's staying safe, and I'll see you next week :)


	20. Chapter 20: Trip Down Memory Lane

**Chapter 20: Trip Down Memory Lane**

Hello everyone! Hope you are all well. It's a longer chapter today - possibly the longest I've written yet! Just before we get started I'd like to say a massive thank you for over 10,000 views and over 40 follows on this story! That's awesome! Okay, on with the chapter...

* * *

"Thanks Ms Lewis," Clary called back to the car as Simon's mom dropped Clary home after dance class. She quickly waved at Simon before hurrying up the stairs and unlocking the door.

"I'm home," she called out to the house, expected to see her mom in the kitchen cooking dinner, or her brother at the kitchen table doing homework. Instead, she was met by her mom sitting on the couch, sobbing.

"Mom! What's wrong?" Clary asked quickly, sitting down next to her and wrapping an arm around her. Her mom just kept crying, almost like she didn't notice her daughter sitting there next to her.

"What's happened? Are you okay?" Clary asked, but her mom said nothing.

"Jon?" Clary called out, hurrying down the hall to her brothers room. She walked in to see him stuffing a duffel bag full of clothes.

"What's going on. Are we going somewhere?" Clary asked, confused.

"I am. You're staying here," Jon replied shortly.

"What's happened? Where are you going?" Clary asked. When he didn't reply she went up to him and grabbed his bag away from him. "Answer me!"

"Dad died," Jon yelled back, and then roughly pulled the bag back from her.

"What?" Clary whispered. That could be true - her dad was meant to be coming home in two weeks. He promised he would come home. He promised.

"You're lying," Clary said, and grabbed the bag away from him again, forcing him to face her. And when he finally did, she could see the tears in his eyes. And how hard he was fighting to stop them from falling.

"Please tell me you're lying," Clary said, feeling her own tears finally spilling over. "Please."

"Why would I lie about something like that?" He responds.

"How?" Clary asks quietly, quickly wiping away the tears.

"Give me my bag back, Clary," is all Jon replies.

"How?" Clary asks again, more strongly this time.

"A transport accident," Jon answers, after a long pause. "Three people died."

"When did you find out?" Clary asks, fighting hard to stay strong.

"About an hour ago," Jon says. "Now, please give me my bag."

"Where are you going," Clary asks, tightening her grip on the bag.

"Away. I can't be here right now," Jon replies.

"Why do you think this is going to be any easier to handle somewhere else. You should be here with mom and me," Clary says. While Jon stands and watches her, their mom lets out a long moan.

"That's why I can't be here. I can't deal with that right now," Jon says.

"And you think I can?" Clary answers. She had only just turned thirteen. People were meant to take care of her.

"Then come with me," Jon says, his eyes widening at the idea. "Let's just get out of here, and we can figure all of this out later."

"We can't leave mom," Clary says, "not when she's like this. She _needs_ us."

Before Jon has a chance to reply, their mom lets out a scream, and Clary rushes out to see what's happened.

Clary stays with her mom for a little bit, hugging her and telling her that it's going to be okay. That they're going to get through this. Maybe she was saying for herself as much as her mom. They still had each other. There was still the three of them.

A creak of a floorboard made Clary look up quickly, and she saw Jon standing at the door, with a new bag, which looked packed full of clothes.

"Please don't leave me," Clary says to him. Her mom was starting to fall asleep on top of her, so she really didn't want to move. "Please don't."

"I'm sorry," Jon says, and then goes out the door.

Clary moves her mom off her as quickly and smoothly as possible, and then runs out after her brother.

"Jonathan!" She yells as she goes down the stairs as quickly as possible. "Come back!"

But by the time she got to the front door of their complex, he was nowhere to be seen.

She roamed the streets for a few minutes, looking for her brother, but eventually she couldn't see anything in the dark, so she had to go home.

Thankfully, her mom was still asleep when she got back, but Clary really had no idea what to do. She thought about calling Simon, or Luke, or even her dance teacher, but she didn't know what any of them would be able to do. This was something they were meant to face as a family, but she had no idea where her brother was, and her mother hadn't said a word to her since she came home.

She decided that the best next thing to do was cook her and her mom dinner - there was no point in starving themselves. She made dinner quickly, practically staring at her mother the whole time trying to figure out what to do next.

Eventually her mom would have to stop crying, but then what? How could you go back to normal life when a massive part of it was missing. Sure, her dad was rarely home, but she always knew he was out there. She would count down the days until he came home.

She brings the two bowls over to the couch, placing her moms on the coffee table in front of them. She lightly shakes her mom awake, and tells her that her dinner is ready.

Jocelyn looks genuinely surprised to see Clary, and then looks over at the food. She puts her head back down on the pillow without saying anything, so Clary begins to eat. After a few minutes, she hears some sniffles coming from her mom, and Clary realises that she's crying again. Maybe it was best to let her sleep.

By the time Clary finishes her dinner, cleans everything up, and gets changed out of her dance clothes, her mom has fallen asleep again. Clary gently lays a blanket over her, and turns the light off before going back to her room.

What were they going to do? She had to figure out how to help her mom, find her brother, start planning her dad's funeral, and figure out how to live life knowing she'd never get to see her dad again. Never get to hug him again. Or talk to him. Or listen to music with him. Or hear him compare her to her mom. She'd never learn another piano song from him, or hear stories of her grandparents. She would never get to do any of it again.

She felt that now that she was finally alone - that no one was relying on her, she could finally break down. And she did. She cried until there was nothing left, screamed into her pillow until her voice was hoarse, chewed her nails until they were bloody. She looked over at her clock, which told her it was three in the morning, and stared out at the street.

Her head was banging with a headache, and her vision was blurred, but she looked at the houses across the street. She thought of the people asleep, not knowing that her life had just changed forever.

She stared out the window until the sun rose, when she went to have a shower and told herself enough. She'd cried and screamed for her dad for a night, and that was all she was going to do. Her mom needed her now. And her brother did too. And her dad would want her to take care of everyone. So that's what she would do.

She started by calling her brother. When he didn't pick up after her third time calling him, she sent him a bunch of texts begging him to come home, and decided that she would call him again later.

She then made herself and her mom breakfast, turned on music and opened all of the blinds, letting in the sunlight. She then gently woke her mom up and handed her a cup of green tea. Even though she didn't eat breakfast, she did drink the tea, so that was a start.

She then called her school and told them she wouldn't be coming in today - and told them that she and her brother had to take care of their mom, because she assumed her brother wouldn't be going to school either.

After that she started researching funeral homes to start planning everything out. After about an hour of research, she realised they were going to have to pay for this somehow. Sure, her mom could keep painting, and she and Jon would both be able to get jobs, but she didn't think that would be enough to cover everything - they'd relied on their dad sending money home before, and he was making a lot more than Jon and Clary would be able to.

She started research whether she would be able to get payments from the army, and started filling out the necessary paperwork.

She was unsuccessful in trying to get her mom to eat any lunch, but did manage to get her in the shower, and then into bed.

And she wasn't crying as much anymore, so that was surely a good sign.

When school was supposed to end she texted Simon and told him that she wouldn't be able to go to dance that afternoon, and only replied to his questions by telling him that she didn't feel well.

She then called her brother a handful more times, with no response.

After attempting to get her mom to eat again, she quickly showered and then went to bed, promising to start living life more normally tomorrow. But she couldn't help crying as she fell asleep.

Her mom ate a piece of toast the next day, which Clary took as progress. She prepared a bunch of food for her mom to have throughout the day and put all on her bedside table so it would be easily accessible, and then went to school.

She looked for her brother everywhere in the hallway, and called him in between all of her classes, but he still didn't show.

Clary quickly went home in between school and dance, even though it made her late, but she had to check on her mom. She left her asleep, but noticed that she hadn't eaten any of the food Clary had left for her.

When she got home from dance about four hours later, she still hadn't eaten any of the food, and Jon still hadn't replied to her, so she felt like she had no choice but to call for help.

"Luke?" Clary said when he answered the phone. "It's Clary," she had to call him off her moms phone, because she didn't have his number in hers.

"Hey Clary, is everything okay?" he asked, clearly a little surprised to be getting a call from Clary this late at night.

"I need help. Can you come over please?" Clary asked, scared that he would say no.

"Is everything okay," he asked, but she could hear him moving, and what sounded like him getting his keys.

"I just really need your help," Clary replied. This wasn't something she wanted to tell someone over the phone.

"I'll be over shortly, but call if you need anything, okay?" Luke said, and she could hear his car starting.

"Thank you," Clary said, and after hanging up tried calling her brother from her moms phone. He still didn't pick up.

Luke arrived not five minutes later.

"Is everything okay? Where's your mom?" He asked when he came inside.

"Ummm, I don't know how to tell you this…" Clary said, sitting down on the couch.

"Is she okay?" Luke said, looking very concerned.

Clary nodded her head, and then shook it, breathing hard as she tried not to cry.

"Clary, I need you to tell me what's going on, okay?" Luke said kindly, sitting next to her one the couch.

Clary picked at the skin of her nails, which started bleeding quickly. The tears started falling, and she took more deep breaths trying to stop them, but more just started falling. "Dad died," she said quietly.

She wasn't sure if Luke could hear her, but he started hugging her, so she assumed he had. This was the first time Clary had been comforted, the first time someone was hugging her, and it felt so good to not have to be the strong one that she broke down, and Luke kept hold of her the whole time.

Once she calmed down, Luke stopped hugging her, and said "Clary, is everything else okay?"

Clary shook her head again. "I've been trying. But I don't know what to do anymore. Mom isn't talking to me, and she won't eat or leave her bed. And I don't know where Jon went. He left after he told me and I haven't heard from him since. I'm sorry."

"Clary, you have absolutely nothing to be sorry for. You tried your hardest, and now you've called me, and we're going to get through this together, okay. I'm going to go talk to your mom, and I need you to call all of your brothers friends and ask them if they've seen Jon, okay?"

Clary nods her head and takes out her phone, to see whose number she had. She called two people, who hadn't heard from Jon, when she heard her mom yelling something. She couldn't quite make out what she was saying, but decided to ignore it for now - she was with Luke, so everything would be okay.

After making a few more phone calls, she figured out where Jon was, so she waited for Luke to come back out so she could tell him.

After a little while, Luke came out with Jocelyn, and he sat her down at the kitchen table.

"Clary, would you be able to make your mom some toast and tea please?" Luke asked, and Clary sprang into action.

Luke sat with Jocelyn until she had finished all of the toast, and then led her back to her bedroom.

"Did you hear anything about your brother?" Luke asks.

"Yeah. I know where he is," Clary answers.

"Okay, well go pick him up," Luke answers, and together to his friend Ash's house. He's reluctant to home at first, but after Clary begs him to, he finally gives in.

Luke leaves them around midnight, "Clary, if you have any trouble, if you need any help, any time of the day or night, call me and I will come. I promise."

"Thank you," Clary answers, and hugs him one last time before he leaves.

And Luke was there to help. Over the next two years, Clary took care of the house. She would clean the house, do all the cooking, all of the washing, she paid the bills. She ended up having to get a job at a cafe to help cover anything, but if they were ever short on money, Luke would help her out.

He would also come over for dinner every few nights to make sure Jocelyn was still eating, and that Jon was still at home.

She would work at Taki's everyday before school, and then either go to dance or band rehearsals after school. She worked all of Saturday until Five O'clock, until her band did a gig there. She would try to catch up on all of her school work on Sunday, and do all of the house work. If she knew the was going to be some extra cost one week, she would also try and busk to earn some extra money.

Her mom still wasn't painting, her brother was only good at spending money, not making it, and she was exhausted almost all of the time. She knew that if it weren't for Luke, their family would have fallen apart.

He was also the only one to remember her fifteenth birthday.

The day after her fifteenth birthday was one she would always remember - it was the day their band got signed by Hodge Starkweather at Circle records.

She was going to be moving to L.A. for it - and Clary saw it as a chance to reset. To move to a life that wasn't plagued by the death of her father.

It was going to be a totally new environment, and she was going to be able to make more money than ever. Her mom and brother both seemed excited about the move. Life finally looked like it was turning around. Luke even suggested that he might move out to L.A. with them.

Unfortunately, everything moved a little too quickly Clary had to move to L.A. a few days after getting signed, which didn't leave them enough time to deal with anything.

They all agreed that Clary would go over now and live with Simon, his mom and sister for a little while, until the rest of her family could meet her over there.

Luke would help them tie up all the loose ends in New York, and then help them all move over.

"Hey Jon," Clary answered the phone on her fifth day in L.A., "how's it all going?" she asked in a sing-songy voice."

"Clary, you need to come home. Now," Jon said seriously.

"What happened?" Clary asked, praying that nothing had happened to her mom or Luke.

"Mom was in a car accident," he says. "She's in a coma. You need to come home now."

Clary didn't notice the phone slip out of her hand, or the stinging in her knees as they hit the ground. She didn't hear the animal-like cry that she was making, or the questions of Simon, Alec, Kit and Magnus. She didn't remember telling them what happened, or getting back to New York. The first thing she did remember after hearing the news was seeing her mom in hospital. With wires and needles everywhere. The bandage on her head, and the cast on her arm.

She remembered being told that her mom was in a coma, and they weren't sure if she would ever wake up. That she was paralysed, and in pain. And that she would likely be in pain for the rest of her life, even if she did wake up.

She remembered writing and singing her mom one last song, hoping somehow, magically it would make everything better.

She remembered making the decision with Jon to take her off like support - that she was never going to enjoy her half life if she did wake up. She remembered thinking that it could still be okay. There was still the two of them.

She remembered seeing Luke cry for the first time.

She remembered breaking down at her mom's funeral. She remembered later that night, drinking for the first time. Taking drugs for the first time. Having sex for the first time. Anything to try and fill that whole in her chest.

She had to go back to L.A. the next day - they'd already been away too long.

Jon promised her that he would be see her in a couple of days - he just had more things he had to handle now.

"It's just us two now," he told her. "It's my turn to take care of you now, Clary."

"I love you Jon," Clary said.

"I love you too Clary," Jon said.

"I'll see you soon," Clary said. But Jon didn't reply.

"Their flight must have gotten delayed," Clary told Magnus a few days later. They were at LAX waiting to pick up Jon.

"Clary…" Magnus said, not wanting to say the truth.

"Or maybe he just got lost," Clary said. "I'll try calling him again." After trying to call him a few times, she said, "maybe they're still flying. He wouldn't be able to get calls."

"Clary I don't think he's coming," Magnus says gently.

"He is. I know he is. He wouldn't leave me," Clary said, staring at the gate door, which everyone had come out of.

"Clary…" Magnus said. He felt so sorry for the young girl sitting next to him who had lost everything, "I think we should go."

"Just a little while longer. Please," Clary begged, not taking her eyes off the gate door.

"Okay," Magnus said, knowing he couldn't say no to her. Not now, when she was holding onto this last thread of hope.

Eventually she gave in, and called Luke. He told her that Jon had left for his flight, that he should be in L.A. now. She tried calling her brother one last time before giving in, and going home.

When she called him and texted him hundreds of times with no response. When Luke hadn't heard anything from him in days. That's when she realised that it was just her. There was no one left in her family. And she felt completely alone. Hollow.

Even though Jace Herondale was only ten years old, he knew that he was different. Sure, he had a mom that loved him, and he thought his dad did too. But he was also aware of the fact that his parents relied on him.

He knew it wasn't normal for ten year olds to work more than their parents. And he didn't actually know how much he had earned, but he knew it was more than most people did by the time they died.

But he'd talked to other kids - kids he's worked with, and none of them seemed to support their family. Most said it went into a college fund, or something they couldn't access until they were eighteen. But their parents didn't buy a house or car or anything else with it.

But maybe those other kids were just lying - it's not like he actually told people what his life was like at home. And he didn't mind that his parents relied on him - sometimes it made him feel special. But sometimes he wished he could just be like other kids.

"Mom?" Jace asked one day, "could I go to school?"

"What do you mean, Lion? You go to school," his mom answered.

"Like an actual school - like the one my character goes to," Jace explained. He was currently playing a character in a movie that was in grade 5, and he wasn't sure if that was what real school was like. But he was eager to find out.

"You wouldn't have time to do all of your movies," his mom told him, "and you love doing your movies, don't you?"

"Yeah," he said, sitting down next to him mom on the couch, "but I don't know… do I have to do it forever?"

"Not if you don't want to," his mom replies.

"So I could go to real school? Maybe when this movie ends?" Jace asks eagerly.

"What are you talking about?" his dad asks, coming into the room. "You want to go to school?"

"I don't don't know," Jace said, looking down at his hands, "maybe."

"No," Stephen said, and then grabbed his car keys. "And hurry up, we're going to run late."

"Why not?" Jace asked, finally looking up at his dad.

"Because you already have your next project planned. And we've worked hard to get you where you are and I'm not going to let you throw it all away because you're being selfish," his dad says harshly. "Now get in the car, Jonathan."

"Stephen," Jace's mom starts.

"It's fine, mom," Jace quickly says, and then follows his dad out the door.

One the way to set he thought everything over. He didn't think he was being selfish - he tried not to complain about anything, and he didn't say anything about how he felt. But sometimes you couldn't know if you were being selfish, so he decided to stay quiet about it.

That was, until he was thirteen.

"Dad, I was thinking," Jace said, "this movie… it finishes filming tomorrow."

"So?" his dad asks, not looking up from his phone.

"Well, it's my 20th movie, so I was thinking… maybe I could buy or do something to celebrate."

"Like what?" His dad asks, finally looking up.

"Well, you know how I've been talking to mom about a trip back to France… maybe now's the right time. I know she misses it and-"

"No," Stephen says, cutting his son off. "I don't have time to go to France right now."

"Well them maybe just mom and I could go… it'd give me a chance to work on my French, and she could go back home for a while…" Jace says. Honestly, he'd wanted to go back to France for a long time now - and it would be all the better if his dad wasn't going.

"And what money would you two be going to France with? How do you think you're going to buy plane tickets? Or pay for accommodation, or food or anything else?" Stephen asks, looking down at his son.

"I was thinking the money I've made… you know - acting," Jace says as if it's obvious, which it is.

"Don't be smart with me boy," Stephen says, "and you don't have access to any of that money, so you simply cannot go."

"But it's my money. I should be able to do what I want with it," Jace says.

"It's not your money," Stephen says, "it's in my bank account. I'm the one that spends it on the bills and our house. You're just a kid."

"Fuck off," Jace says before he can stop himself.

He feels a stinging in his cheek and looks back at his dad, who is slowly sitting back down in his chair.

"Don't you _ever _speak to me like that again Jonathan. I was being kind then - saying anything like that to me again, and there will be much worse consequences. Do you understand?" Stephen says.

"Yes," Jace says, still holding his cheek.

"Yes what?" Stephen asks.

Jace narrows his eyes at his father before replying, "yes sir."

Jace spent the next three years of his life getting ready for his sixteenth birthday. In the meantime, he tried to avoid his father as much as possible, and made sure that his mom was okay.

Waking up on his sixteenth birthday was one of the best feelings Jace could remember.

The first thing he did was go to him mom.

"Happy birthday lion!" his mom said as he walked into the kitchen. "I'm making you crepes now, and then I thought we might go to the movies later today? There's this great French film that's just come out."

"That sounds great mom, but first I need to talk to you, about something important," Jace says.

"Look at my little man," his mom says.

"Mom, I'm moving out. And I think you should come with me," Jace says.

"What do you mean you're moving out?" his mom asks shocked.

"I mean that I can't live with dad anymore. And I've looked it out and you can legally move out of home at 16. But I want you to come with me," Jace says, somewhat urgently. He wanted his mom to agree before his dad could have an opinion on the matter.

"Jace…" his mom says.

"No think about it - we could go anywhere you want to go. We could move to France. Or back to New York. Or some completely new country, I don't care. I just know that I need to get out, and I need to know that you're okay."

"Jace, I'm fine now," his mom says. "And I don't understand why you need to move out."

"You know that Stephen takes advantage of us!" Jace yells, and then looks towards the kitchen door, hoping his dad didn't hear. "I can support us completely, we could leave today and never look back."

"He's your manager," his mom says.

"And I've already hired a new one," Jace says, "she's young and she doesn't have a lot of experience, but she's already gotten me a new job. One that'll pay enough money that I can buy us a house big enough for both of us."

"I love your father, Jace. I know you may not understand it," she said. That was the one thing he didn't have an answer for - the one thing he knew he wouldn't be able to convince her out of. "But, I understand if you want to go."

"Do you want to move back to France?" he asks his mom. He had a plan B.

"You're father would never move back to France," his mom says.

"But do you want to?" Jace asks.

"Yes, I do," his mom says.

Jace smiles at his mom, and hugs her, before going to his father's study.

He'd been hit before for not knocking, but with the adrenaline rushing through his body, and the thought that he was about to start fresh, he pushed the door open and saw his father leaned over his desk.

When he sits up straight to look at who had just come into his office, Jace sees two lines of white powder on his desk.

"Classy," Jace says, "but there's a little bit on your jumper."

"Jonathan, how dare you-" his father begins, but Jace quickly interrupts him.

"No, today I talk and you listen," Jace says confidently, shutting the office door and sitting in the seat across from his father.

"There are going to be some changes around here," Jace says, and quickly continues before his dad has a chance to cut in. "I'm moving out. I'm firing you as my manager. And you're moving to France."

"You can't do that," his father says, shooting daggers at him.

"I can actually," Jace says. "You see, you are completely dependent on me. For everything - your house, your car… your drugs," he looks down at the mirror on his father's desk. "So if you want to see any money at all in the future, you will listen to me, and do what I say."

"Fine, what do you want," his father says.

"Since I was a baby, _a baby_, you have gotten your entire income from me. Do you understand the kind of pressure that comes with that? Knowing at 10 years old that if you don't do well your entire family suffers?" Jace asks, and when Stephen just stares back at him, he says "of course you don't. So I'm not going to live with it any more. Here's what's going to happen: you and mom are going to sell this house and move to France, because for some godforsaken reason, she still loves you. You will have nothing to do with me anymore. You will not be my manager, you will not talk to any press about me, and you will only come to my movie sets if you are invited by me. Do you understand so far?"

"Yeah, I understand," Stephen says with pure hatred.

"In return, you can keep all of the money I've made so far, and I will send you a monthly allowance, which you are allowed to spend on whatever you want - but once the money's gone, that is it," Jace says.

"You think I'm going to give all of this up because my idiot kid says he'll give me a little money? What's stopping me from doing anything?" Stephen asks. He clearly didn't realise how long Jace had been planning this.

"If I hear a word about you stepping out of line, the money stops straight away. Then, I will get emancipated. You will have no right to anything. I will sue you and get back everything that's rightfully mine. My mother will realise what a loser you are and come live with me, and you will have _nothing_. Am I understood, or do you need me to say it again?"

"Fuck you," Stephen says, standing.

"No, fuck you," Jace says, standing up and knocking the mirror of Stephens desk so the powder falls on the ground. "Your flight leaves at 9.00 tomorrow morning. If I find out you're not on it… well you already know what's going to happen. Goodbye Stephen."

Jace then quickly says goodbye to his mother, before going to his car. It had already been packed with all of his things, so he was ready to leave. Finally free from his father, from the pressures of supporting his family, finally allowed to be a kid."

"Hey baby," Jace says, sitting down beside Clary. She was sitting on their deck facing the ocean. Clary smiles over at Jace, and takes a deep breath. She'd been deep in thought and was glad to be brought out of it. "I've been thinking," he says.

"Yeah, so have I," Clary says, resting her hands on her stomach. It had 'popped' a couple of days ago - she'd only left the house once since then and nobody seemed to notice anything. Then again, she was wearing one of Jace's jackets, so it completely covered her stomach. They were both aware that they were going to have to tell everyone soon, and that seemed to make everything a little more real.

"I was thinking about when I was growing up," Jace tells her, "and how much pressure was on me to provide for my family. I don't want any of my kids to feel that pressure."

"And they won't," Clary says, slowly running her fingers through Jace's hair. "We've made a good living - I think if anything we need to be careful that they're not spoiled."

"Yeah, I get that. But… I figure we're both probably going to want a little while off after they arrive, so I was thinking I might fit in one more movie before then. Just to make sure…" Jace says, leaving towards his wife a little more.

"I don't think we need to do that, but if you want to that's your choice. Can you just make sure that it's done before they arrive? That still gives you another five months or so," Clary says.

"Yeah, of course," Jace says, kissing her on the temple. "What were you thinking about?"

"Kind of the opposite, actually. I just remember growing that my dad was never around. And then for a while my mom just felt absent. I was thinking about how I didn't want to be absent for my kids," Clary says.

"You know nothing is going to happen to either of us, right?" Jace says. He knew Clary had trouble believing people would stick around, but she was starting to realise that he was there for the long haul.

"Yeah I know," she says, resting her head on his shoulder, "but I mean, you can be physically home but mentally at work. Or even just physically at work. I think I'm going to take a break for a while; not tour anything. I just want my time to be with them," she says, resting her hand on her stomach, "and nothing else."

"Are you sure?" Jace asks, "you love touring."

"I'll do it again some day, but for now I just want to be with my family," Clary says, looking at Jace. "And I think I need to tell my band soon."

"If you're sure…" Jace says. He couldn't imagine giving up acting; not for a long time, anyway.

"I am. I've got to go meet Magnus at his house," Clary says.

"I'll drive you if you want?" Jace says, standing up and then extending his arms to help Clary up.

"That would be great, thank you," she says.

"What's going on biscuit, is everything okay?" Magnus asks.

"Yeah, everything's going really well," Clary says, "but I've got to tell you something."

"Off you go then," Magnus says.

"I've decided I'm going take a break for a while. From touring and everything. The babies are due in five months and we need to get ready for them. And it's not like I could really tour now anyway," Clary says.

"I thought this might be coming," Magnus says, "and I think you should take some time off. Get used to being a mother. Especially with twins - it's not going to be easy."

"Yeah," Clary says, rubbing her forehead, "so I've heard."

"But you two are going to be pros," he adds, pulling her hand from her forehead, "you may be a mother at 24, but you don't want wrinkles."

"What are you going to do?" Clary asks, "with your time off?"

"Alec and I have been thinking about a move. And he's considering starting to write an album, so who knows, maybe I'll get to tour with him!" Magnus says.

"A move to where, downtown?" Clary asks. She liked that they were all living in Malibu and so close at the moment.

"Paris, actually," Magnus says, and at Clary's shocked face adds, "it's just talk at the moment. And it won't be forever. And you _know_ I can't miss meeting my biscuits little crumbs!"

"My crumbs?" Clary asks, amused.

"Alec didn't like it either," Magnus says, "funny that?"

"Odd," Clary says. "Well know I just gotta tell everyone else,'' Clary says, leaning back into the couch.

"Do they even know you're pregnant yet?" Magnus asks.

"I think Emma suspects it, and maybe Jem. But definitely not George," Clary says.

"Well it will be a nice surprise for them," Magnus says.

"Yeah, hopefully…"

"Oh my God!" Emma says, jumping up and hugging Clary. "I knew it! Didn't I tell you Jules that I thought she was pregnant."

"Yeah, you did," Jules says, looking disappointed.

"Hand it over then," Emma says, sitting back down next to Julian.

Julian hands a fifty dollar note over to Emma, and then says, "congratulations, by the way," to Clary.

"Tessa's going to be happy - she was saying just the other day that Mina needed some friends," Jem says, standing to hug Clary as well.

"Well, me being pregnant actually means I won't be able to tour for a while - it'll probably be another year or so before I even begin thinking about writing the next album," Clary says. She didn't want any of them to leave L.A., but understood that they would probably want to go home.

"Well Jules and I will be sticking around," Emma says, "L.A.'s home!"

"I'll talk to Tessa tonight - there's a chance we might go back to England for a little while," Jem says. "Don't tell Tessa but I don't really want Mina growing up with an American accent."

"What about you, Lovelace?" Julian asks.

"I'll probably head back to the farm for a while," George says, "but I'll be back soon. Weather's piss poor in Scotland compared to here!"

* * *

I hope you all liked that chapter! I've wanted to write about the past for both Clary and Jace for a while now and I thought this might be a good way to do it. Let me know! I hope you're all staying happy and healthy, and I'll see you at the next one!


	21. Chapter 21: It's Time

**Chapter 21: It's Time**

Hello everyone! I hope you're all well. Thank you for all of your lovely reviews on this story. Feel free to review with any question, comments or suggestions you may have. Now, on to the chapter!

* * *

Clary has imagined Simon's wedding for as long as she had imagined her own. Despite the amount of times she'd thought about it, there were a few things that she never imagined. She and Simon were never getting married. He was never getting married on a beach. And she was never seven months pregnant. Two out of three of those things weren't happening today.

Clary was standing in front of the mirror, in the dress Izzy had custom made for her crying. She felt as wide as she was tall, her feet hurt too much to wear heels and no amount of contour seemed to bring back the shape of her face. She was beyond proud to be Izzy's maid of honour, but it didn't help that she would be standing next to Izzy, who could make a garbage bag look sexy.

She knew it was stupid to cry about this; she was making two humans inside of her - of course a few changes were going to happen.

"Clary, are you ready to go soon?" Jace asked, walking into their wardrobe. She quickly tried to wipe her tears, but he had already noticed. He walked up behind her, wrapped her arms around her waist and looked at her in the mirror.

"Absolutely beautiful," he whispers in her ear.

"It's not fair," Clary says, "you're all tall and skinny and I'm _this_," Clary says, frowning at her appearance.

"Well _I_ think you look more and more beautiful everyday. And in two months you're going to have two babies, and then I'm sure you'll think it was all worth it," Jace says, bending down and kissing her cheek.

Clary sighs, before walking away from the mirror. "I don't want to be pregnant for two more months."

"And why's that?" Jace says, holding his wrists out to Clary so she can put on his cuff links.

"It's not _just_ that I've put on heaps of weight - I get that I can lose that later," Clary says, starting to put in earrings.

"Then what is it? Jace says, watching her, looking amused.

"I haven't been able to play the guitar for over a month! And I can't write a song for the life of me. And food that I've loved forever now makes me sick, and I crave food I've hated since I was little," Clary says, and then looks at Jace's smirk and adds, "And don't you dare say I'm still little!"

"I was _going_ to say… that you should look at the positives too," Jace says, walking out of the wardrobe but waiting outside the door so Clary could catch up.

"Oh, like the positives that I have to pee every ten minutes. Or that none of my shoes fit me anymore. Or that I have pimples all over my back?" Clary says. Jace looks her up and down, and Clary says, "don't say my boobs getting bigger is a positive."

"Well, I mean… that is a positive," Jace says, and then quickly dodges Clary's hit. "But what I was actually going to say is that you're doing things you haven't in a long time too. You've gotten back into your art. And playing the piano again. You're getting into new foods, and you've met new people at your pregnant Pilates… I'm just saying it's not all bad."

"Whatever," Clary says, and holds out her hand so Jace can help her into the car. "If we have kids again, you're the one that has to be pregnant." Jace laughs before softly closing the car door.

As one would expect, Izzy's wedding was beautiful. She had planned everything with Magnus, and had spent the whole day before setting up so everything would be perfect. Clary had tried to help her and Magnus set up, but eventually they all decided they could probably do it more quickly if she just sat and watched, so instead she played good music and asked Izzy about her makeup and honeymoon.

Clary was currently in a room where Izzy was putting on the finishing touches to her makeup - thankfully she'd waited until the makeup artists had left until she did. Clary was her maid of honour, but Rebecca - Simon's sister, was a bridesmaid. Izzy's mom was also in the room. The three women helped Izzy get into her wedding dress, and then Clary was sent to let Simon know that she was ready, while Rebecca took some photos.

Izzy knocked on the door that Simon and all of his groomsmen were in. Jace opened up, and smiled down at Clary.

"Izzy's ready to go," Clary told him, and then there was a crash from inside the room. "Kit didn't get Simon drunk, did he?" Izzy would kill Simon if he was drunk.

"No, no. He's just excited. I don't think he ever imagined he'd land someone so far out of his league…" Jace says.

"Oh shut up," Clary says. "Just tell Simon to go down to the altar."

"Hi Clary!" Max says, appearing under Jace's arm.

"Hey Max," Clary says, smiling down at the younger boy. "You look very handsome in your tux!"

"Yeah - it's the same one that Kit, and Alec and Magnus and Jace are wearing!" Max says excitedly, and then looks back in the room as if to confirm what he just said was true.

Clary bends down a little bit - honestly he wasn't that much shorter than her anymore, but that was probably a good thing since she couldn't bend very far. "I think you look the best," she tells him quietly, and he practically beams back at her.

"I think you look really pretty too, Clary!" Max answers, and then hurries back into the room.

"I'll see you in a little bit," Clary says to Jace, before going back to Izzy's room.

The wedding is absolutely beautiful - as you would expect of Isabelle Lightwood, now Lewis's wedding.

The reception is a great party, but Clary has to leave early and Jace insists on going with her, so they wish the new couple goodbye and bon voyage before going back home.

"That was really nice," Clary says, easing off her shoes once they get home.

"Yeah, it was. I still think our wedding was better, though," Jace says, taking off his tie and undoing the top few buttons on his shirt.

"Yeah well, I would be slightly concerned if you enjoyed someone else's wedding more than ours," Clary says, "the reception, sure. But not the wedding."

"I think every single thing about our wedding was the best," Jace says, sitting down next to Clary. "Every. Single. Thing."

"Maybe we could go back to France soon," Clary says, rubbing her stomach, thinking of how dreamy the scenery was.

"I would love that," Jace says, kissing her forehead. "But one thing at a time, yeah?"

"I think I'm going to go to bed," Clary says, fully aware that it was only eight o'clock.

"Love you," Clary says as she slowly stands up.

"I love you too," Jace says, and then turns on the TV.

"I thought I would paint the nursery," Clary tells Jace the next day.

"Today?" Jace asks, closing his laptop.

"There's no time like the present right - and I want to do it before I'm too pregnant to get on a ladder. And you never know… doctor Jeremiah said that twins are born early all the time," Clary answers.

"Sure, early. But he said a few weeks - you've still got at least another month to go," Jace says.

"It's still good to be ready I think," Clary says, gently resting her hands on her stomach.

"Okay, sure," Jace says. Honestly, he wanted to hire someone to paint the room. Not because he didn't think Clary would do an amazing job, but because he didn't really want his heavily pregnant wife to go up on a tall ladder. But he knew she wouldn't have any of that, so he just wanted to help as much as possible. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I bought it all a few weeks ago, but thank you." She runs her fingers through his hair before going to where the twins room was going to be. It had a bunch of boxes with furniture that needed to be assembled; cribs and dressers and change tables and bookshelves. There was also a massive pile of clothes and toys to fill all of the furniture that hadn't been built yet.

Clary laid a tarp over everything, and then started painting the base coat of navy blue over the whole ceiling. She did another coat of the navy blue, before taking a nap. She ate some lunch, and then started painting starts across the whole ceiling. She did a few bigger and smaller ones, and even tried to replicate a couple of constellations.

She finished in the afternoon by painting a few navy blue stars on the walls, and then she called Jace in to view her handy work.

"Oh wow," Jace says. He'd expected some animals, maybe something to do with music, but this was amazing. "This is so cool."

"Wait, it gets cooler," Clary says, moving as quickly as she can to close the blinds. "Turn the lights off."

The moment Jace turns the lights off, all of the stars begin to glow. "I thought it could be kind of like a night light," Clary says, with her head turned towards the ceiling. "And I thought it would be nice for them to fall asleep under the stars every night - well sort of.

"This is amazing, Clary," Jace says genuinely. "You're amazing." He walks over to her and wraps his arms around her waist and rests his head on her shoulder.

"Maybe tomorrow you could start building some of the furniture?" Clary says. _She'd_ wanted to hire someone to build it all - mainly because she didn't actually know if Jace could, and she didn't want one of her children's cribs falling apart during the night, but he'd insisted. "I could get Alec to come over and help if you want?"

"Sure," Jace says, kissing her on the cheek, secretly grateful for the help. "Come on, I'll make dinner." He slowly pulls Clary from the room, taking one last look at the glowing stars on the ceiling.

"Hey, don't forget that I've got James Cordon tonight - for the announcement," Clary tells Jace as he and Alec sit on the floor building the second crib.

"Yeah, I remember," Jace says, "and I'll be there!" It had been his idea to announce it on a TV show - it would give them an opportunity to actually talk about it, and release the news how they wanted to. There had been a few speculations that Clary was pregnant, but weren't there always?

In true Clary fashion, she'd written a song to announce the news. It was called 'I've Been Waiting for You'. It was the second and last song she'd written since becoming pregnant, but she loved it. She'd always found it a lot easier to get out her feelings in a song rather than sitting down and telling someone.

Later that night, Clary and Jace were laying in bed. Everything had gone as planned. Jace was reading over all the well wishes everyone was sending them out, and reading Clary the good ones. Clary was reading a book.

When she starts struggling to keep her eyes open, she slowly lowers herself into the bed and begins to fall asleep. A few minutes later Jace turns the light off, and she soon hears him begin breathing evenly.

When she's finally about to start falling asleep, she feels a pain in her stomach. She slowly sits up and turns on the lamp on her bed side table, trying to take deep breaths. Jace sits up and looks over at her.

"Is everything okay?" he asks, rubbing his eyes.

"I don't know-" she begins saying but is cut off by another pain in her stomach. She tries to stifle her moaning so she doesn't freak Jace out, but she soon feels something wet in her legs.

She lifts the cover to look. "Jace," she says, still looking under the covers, "I'm bleeding."

"Okay Clary, everything's going to be okay. We're going to go to the hospital to make sure though, okay?"

"Jace, it's too early. It's too early for them to be born," Clary says.

"I know, and it's going to be okay we're-" he stops talking when Clary let's out another moan.

He helps Clary out of bed, and then into the bathroom so she can change her pants. He quickly runs around the room, collecting everything she might need at the hospital, silently praying that Clary and the babies will be okay.

* * *

Song Mention:

I've Been Waiting for You by ABBA - but actually the version in Mamma Mia 2, because the lyrics are different!

Sorry to leave you on a cliff hanger, but I thought I needed to add some more tension to the story! I hope you're all staying safe and happy, and I'll see you next week!


	22. Chapter 22: I Promise

**Chapter 22: I Promise**

Hello everyone! I hope you're all happy and healthy and excited for a new chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

"Clary, everything's going to be okay. I promise," Jace says. He was driving to the hospital as quickly as he could. He told her everything was going to be okay many times, both for her and himself.

Usually she would nod, or just ignore him, but this time she looked over. "Jace, you can't know that. Something could go wrong for them or for me… and I want you to know-"

"I'm not going to let that happen. You are going to be fine. All three of you," Jace says, speeding up to make it through an orange light.

"But if something does happen, know that I love you. No matter what. And that I want you to be happy… whatever it takes," Clary says, and Jace feels her hand brush his arm lightly.

"Fuck, move," Jace says to the car in front of him.

"It's fine," Clary says quietly, "Everything has a way of sorting itself out."

He looks over at her for the first time since helping her in the car, and notices how pale she's become. How much of an effort it seems to be to keep her eyes open. Her jaw clenched in pain. And he wishes more than anything for this to stop.

"Don't talk like that. Everything's going to be fine. I promise," Jace says, quickly moving around the car in front of him as the light turns green. "Just hold on, okay Clary?"

He hears her murmur something, but focuses on pulling into the hospital.

After shittily pulling into a car park, he races around to Clary's door and opens the door for her. He notices then that her hands are shaking and that she's bled some more, and quickly tells her that he's going to go get her a wheelchair.

"Please help," Jace says to the lady at the front desk. "My wife, she's pregnant and she's bleeding and I don't know what to do."

The nurse sends someone out to help Clary, and Jace goes to follow him out, but the lady holds his hand. "I just need to ask you some questions. She'll be okay without you for a minute. How many weeks pregnant is your wife?"

"Umm, she's 30. 30 weeks pregnant with twins. I don't know what happened. We went to bed and then she said she had some pain in her stomach and then she noticed she was bleeding so we came straight here."

"You did the right thing by bringing her here," the nurse says, and then stands as Clary is wheeled in.

Clary weekly smiles at us both, but I can tell it's taking a fair amount of effort.

"We've been seeing Doctor Jeremiah," Jace says, turning back to the nurse.

"Luckily, he delivered a baby half an hour ago, so he's already here. I'll get you two settled in a room, while someone gets him for you."

"Thank you," Clary almost whispers, but the nurse hears and smiles at her before starting to push her in the wheelchair.

Doctor Jeremiah runs a few tests, and says he'll be back shortly with the result, but whatever happens he'll want to keep Clary here for at least the rest of the night to monitor her.

"Jace in case something happens…" Clary begins, but stops to wipe a tear from Jace's cheekbone. "I know it's not pleasant to talk about, but I've got to. If something happens to me, I want you to love our children. And I don't mind if you get married again. But she's got to be good to them."

"Clary, nothing's going to happen," Jace says desperately. "I won't let it."

"I just thought I'd say. In case your will is not as strong as God's." She meant it as a joke, but Jace couldn't bring himself to laugh at the moment, and it hurt Clary too much to. So instead they sat in silence. Jace is thinking about how he could never love someone as much as he loves Clary. And Clary realising that she wasn't scared, no matter what happened.

When Doctor Jeremiah comes back in, Jace stands, and Clary tries to sit up a little more.

"So… is it good news?" Jace asks. Of course it wasn't.

"It's not as bad as it could be," Jeremiah says.

"What does that mean? What's wrong?" Clary asks.

"It's called a placental abruption. It's quite rare. It means that the placenta has detached from the wall of the uterus. It's what's caused the bleeding and the pain." Jeremiah answers.

"Okay so… can you fix it?" Jace asks.

"Unfortunately not. I've just begun preparing for an emergency c-section," Jeremiah explains.

"But it's too early," Clary says. If there was something they could do. Even if she could hold on for just a week, a few days longer…

"I know," Jeremiah says kindly, "but if we don't act now it will only become more dangerous for you and your babies. It could prove fatal."

"Clary, it's okay. We can do this," Jace says.

"I'll leave you two for a moment. A nurse will be in soon to explain everything to you and help you get ready," Jeremiah says.

"Is this really the best option?" Clary asks.

"I'm afraid there's nothing else we can do. Waiting only increases the danger," Jeremiah says kindly, but seriously.

Clary nods and he leaves.

"I'm sorry," Clary says, wiping tears from her cheeks.

"Hey, hey, hey," Jace says softly, "there is nothing for you to be sorry about. We're here and you're safe."

"I wished it," Clary says, "I told you I was sick of being pregnant, and this is my punishment."

"Hey," Jace says, wiping her tears, "this isn't a punishment. And it's not your fault. Sometimes things like this happen. They know what they're doing. And it's all going to be okay."

"How are you so calm?" Clary asks.

"I learnt from the best," Jace answers, kissing her on the head. "Every time I've been panicked or scared, you've helped me see the light. So now I'll try to do it for you."

"I love you," Clary says as the nurse comes in.

"I love you too. More than you can ever know," Jace says, stepping aside to let the nurse talk to Clary.

Less than an hour later, Clary and Jace are parents. It hadn't been as scary as Clary thought, and it was over a lot quicker than Jace could have imagined.

And now, they were sat looking at their twins. One perfect boy, and one perfect girl.

"I can't believe we made them," Clary says, resting her hand on the incubator. Because they were born so early, they were in the NICU, but doctor Jeremiah said they were healthy, and that he was sure they would quickly grow and strengthen.

"_You_ made them," Jace says, resting his hand on top of his wife's.

"You helped a little," Clary says, smiling at him.

"Should we talk about names?" Jace asks.

"I like the ones we came up with," Clary says. "I think it suits them."

"Me too," Jace says. "So Charlotte Ella Herondale and Charles Theodore Herondale it is."

"They can be Charlie and… Charlie. Crap," Clary says, suddenly realising what they've done. "We've given them the same name, just in different genders.

Jace laughs before saying, "I guess we never said it fully like that. What do we do?"

"What if we just swapped them?" Clary suggests.

"What? Make her Charles and him Charlotte. I don't really see how that helps," Jace says, "nor do I really want a son named Charlotte."

"No," Clary says, "I _meant_ Ella Charlotte Herondale and Theodore Charles Herondale."

"Yeah…" Jace says, testing the names out for themselves, "I like that. Welcome to the world Ella and Teddy."

"We should probably tell everyone. Izzy will be angry that she didn't know before they were born," Clary says, not taking her eyes off her children.

"I mean technically, we promised to tell her when you went into labour, and you never did," Jace says, fishing his phone out of his pocket.

"She's still not going to like it," Clary says.

They decide to leave the twins and go back to Clary's hospital room. They didn't want disturb the other babies or the nurses with their phone calls.

"Who do you want to call first?" Jace says, smiling at her earlier comment.

"Maybe Luke?" Clary says, "or your parents if you want."

"Let's call Luke," Jace says, already searching through his contacts.

"Hey Jace," Luke says answering the phone. "Is everything okay?"

"Actually," Clary says. "We've got some news."

"Is everything okay?" Luke asks.

"We had the babies," Clary says.

Luke lets out a surprised sound. "Really? Are they okay; I know it's a bit earlier than you were expecting.

"They're in the NICU," Jace tells him, "but mom and babies are healthy and happy."

"Congratulations you guys. You're going to make great parents. Both of you," Luke says.

"I learnt from the best," Clary says, blinking so she doesn't cry, "and I don't mean my dad."

"I love you Clary," Luke says. And he sounds like he's trying not to cry himself.

"I love you too, and I'll see you soon okay?" Clary says.

"Send pictures!" Luke says before they hang up the phone.

"Do you want to call your mom now?" Clary asks.

Jace nods and calls her, and they have a quick conversation in French. Clary was getting better and understanding it, but he always talks so quickly when it's with his mother, and she didn't want to eavesdrop anyway.

"Who's next?" Jace asks, after hanging up the phone.

"It's between Simon and Izzy and Magnus and Alec," Clary says. "You choose."

"Giving me the hard choices I see," Jace says.

"I just had my stomach cut open-" Clary begins.

"Okay whatever - but you can only use that excuse like five more times," Jace says.

"I better save them then," Clary says smiling at him. "I never know when I;m going to have to use you to get out of something."

"Ha ha, very funny Herondale," Jace says, and then pushes a button on his phone. It begins ringing and soon Izzy picks up.

"Jace what the hell. It's too early in the morning - it's 6am," Izzy says, sounding very grumpy. "Did you forget there's a time difference between New York and L.A.? Whatever you need, I'll call you later."

"Well Luke didn't seem to mind. And maybe I'll just call your brother and tell him instead, seeing as you don't sound very happy to hear from me," Jace says.

"Well I'm awake now, so you better tell me," Izzy says, sounding a little less grumpy.

Jace nods at Clary and she says, "Izzy, we had the babies."

"Wait," Izzy says, "what?"

"We had the babies Iz," Jace says.

"Oh my God!" Izzy yells on the other side of the phone, "Simon, wake up! Clary had the babies?"

They can hear a sleepy and confused Simon on the other side of the phone, but when he eventually gets caught up to speed, he speaks to Clary and Jace. "Congrats you guys. Is everything okay?"

"The babies are little but healthy," Clary says.

"And so's Clary - both little and healthy," Jace says, smiling at his own joke.

"That's good to hear," Simon says.

"Okay and what about genders and names?" Izzy asks, clearly excited.

"Ella was born first, and Teddy next," Jace says.

"She's a bit bigger, a little bit stronger," Clary ads.

"Okay, well I need full names please! Or haven't you decided yet, because I've got some really good suggestions…" Izzy says, eager to suggest Isabelle as a middle name.

"No, but that Iz," Jace says.

"They're Ella Charlotte Herondale and Theodore Charles Herondale," Clary says.

"Oh, very posh," Simon says. "I like it; little Teddy and Ellie-Bellie."

"When can we come visit?" Izzy asks.

"We haven't actually asked that," Clary says, looking at Jace. "Not for a little while, probably."

"Babies in the NICU are really susceptible to infections and diseases… we're probably just going to try and play it safe for now," Jace ads. "We just already got off to such a rocky start."

"Yeah, of course. We get it," Simon says. "Well, we'll leave you two _parents_, but send pictures when you can yeah?"

"Of course," Clary says.

"And tell me how big they are because they are about to get so many clothes!" Izzy says.

"Izzy, they're literally a day old – they don't need to be in designer," Jace says, imagining her plans now.

"Nobody _needs_ to be in designer Jace, but everyone _should_ be," Izzy replies.

"God, I'm going to be broke," Simon says.

Clary laughs before saying, "love you guys."

"We love you too," they reply, before they hang up they can already hear Izzy telling Simon that they have to get ready to go shopping.

"We can call Magnus and Alec, and then I might have a nap before we call everyone else?" Clary says.

"That sounds like a good idea. I might go back to the babies for a little while," Jace says.

Their call with Magnus and Alec goes much the same as their call with Izzy and Simon. They were supportive and understanding, but clearly excited for the arrival of the babies.

A few days later, the doctors tell Clary that she's all clear to go home, and that she can come visit the babies as often as she wants to, but that she won't be able to drive by herself for a few more weeks.

They decide to go home then, and come back later that night to stay with Ella and Teddy for a while.

After Clary showers and gets into new clothes, Jace sits her down.

"Um, Clary," he says, "I have to go back to work."

"What?" she says.

"They put filming on hold for a few days for us, but that's really all they can do. There's only two weeks of shooting left. And I can drive you into the hospital each day and then pick up on my way home. And I've talked to Alec, Magnus, Izzy, Simon, even Kit - and they all said they'd be happy to come in at any time and help you."

"Right," Clary says, thinking it all over. It had been such an intense past few days that she hadn't even been thinking about work.

"I'm sorry - I planned it so it'd be done by the time you were 34 weeks, which is when they said you might go into labour - I didn't think this would happen," Jace says, looking genuinely upset.

"It's fine. I get it. There's nothing you can do," Clary says. She obviously didn't want him to back to work, and by the looks of it neither did he, but she did understand. Despite her understanding, she began to cry. It had been a tough few days. She hadn't gotten a lot of sleep and her hormones were all out of whack, so she didn't have a lot of control over her tears at the moment.

"Please ignore this," Clary said, wiping her tears. "I don't want to be crying right now, and I really do understand."

"Maybe you should have a sleep before we go back to the hospital," Jace says rubbing circles on her back.

Clary nods at him, and heads towards their bedroom. He'd been so good and understanding the past few days. She really didn't know what she would do without him.

The next Saturday was Jace's first day off work since he began filming. They were going out for breakfast with Simon, Izzy, Magnus and Alec before the two of them were going to the hospital. Everyone had gotten the chance to meet the twin by now, and everyone thought they were perfection.

"Whilst I know you all love being in our company," Jace says, "there is actually another reason we asked you to breakfast today.

"First of all, I wanted to say thank you," Clary says, "you've all been a really big help for the past couple of days."

"Clary, whatever you need," Simon says, "just ask."

"We're here for you muffin," Magnus says.

"And your adorable babies," Izzy adds.

Alec offers her a reassuring smile.

"We also wanted to ask you all something," Jace says.

"We were hoping that you'd be our children's Godparents," Clary says, smiling at them all.

"Izzy and Simon, we were hoping you'd be Ella's and Magnus and Alec if you would be Teddy's," Jace explains.

Alec is the first to respond, "we'd be honoured."

"Of course," Simon says, "thank you."

Clary looks at Magnus and Izzy, expecting them to be more vocal, but they were both crying, clutching at each other's hands.

Eventually Magnus lets out a cry that sounds like "my little teddy bear."

"I guess that settles it then," Clary says, watching them amused."

After that, Clary and Jace go back to the hospital.

After another 5 weeks in the NICU, they finally get to take the twins home. They'd had time to make everything perfect for them. They moved their beds into Clary and Jace's room so they could be close to them at night. They'd completely baby proofed the house, even though they knew the twins would be able to move around yet. They had strollers and clothes and enough nappies to fill the bedroom. They were ready.

One thing they noticed very quickly, was whenever people saw them for the first time, they were quick to comment on how different they looked.

Ella had Jace's tanned skin and Clary's green eyes. She'd even had a few blonde hairs start to grow. While Teddy had Clary's milky white skin and bright blue eyes. His hair had a silvery quality to it - really similar to her brother's and fathers hair. She didn't know where the blue eyes came from though.

The first few nights home are rough. They always seemed to wake up at different times during the night, but one's crying would wake up the other, so both Clary and Jace had to get up to help.

Luckily, Jace had finished filming his movies, so he was able to stay home and help Clary. They were well behaved children - they slept for most of the day, and would eat when Clary tried to feed them - most the time. Clary was used to not sleeping enough, and Jace was quickly catching up.

Really, they were just happy to be at home with their healthy twins.

* * *

Hope you you liked that - a bit of suspense but it all ended okay - I wouldn't let them loose the twins! Now that they're born and you know a tiny bit about them, tell me what you want them to be like! Hope you all stay safe and happy, and I'll see you next week :)


	23. Chapter 23: Not So Easy

**Chapter 23: Not So Easy**

Hello everyone, thank you for coming back for another chapter. I would also like to thank everyone who followed and favourited the story at all, but especially in the past week! And another thank you to everyone who reviewed with suggestions or comment - keep them coming! I've tried to work your suggestions into this chapter, but let me know if you want more or less of something, and I'd be happy to put it in!

* * *

It seemed that the initial relief of their children being okay was slow to wear off. But when it did, just a few weeks after Jace finished filming his movie, it hit hard. Thinking about it now, as Clary sat rocking Ella back to sleep, she thought that it may have worn off some time ago, but then Jace had come home to help, so it all became easier to handle. But in the weeks since that time, everything just seemed to get harder.

Admittedly, they had a solid routine down now. Clary and Jace would get up together during the night even if only one twin was crying. They now knew that the other wouldn't be far behind. And it was much easier if they were both there to settle the twins. It also meant they didn't argue the next morning over who had gotten more sleep, which they seemed to do when the twins first came home.

While Clary fed one twin in the morning, Jace would take the other for a walk. They seemed to get fussy if they noticed the other twin was being fed, but Clary was only able to feed one at a time. She was sure they would be completely reliant on formula by the end of the month.

It didn't help that because only one of them was ever seen out, there now seemed to be a seemingly never ending rumour that they were splitting up. Admittedly, they were arguing now more than they ever had, but they were all small arguments over things that only seemed to matter in the moment. If anything, they'd never felt closer. Jace seemed to realise that he'd nearly lost his wife, and he wasn't about to lose her now.

After walking and feeding the twins, they would go down for another nap, when Clary and Jace would eat breakfast themselves. After this the twins went through a cycle of eating, sleeping, diaper changes, being read books and being sung to until it was time for their bath and bed. And then the same thing happened the next day.

Clary and Jace had also learned that if anything went amiss during their routine, like one of the twins refusing to eat in the morning or fighting getting dressed, it would disrupt the whole rest of the day, and meant they didn't sleep as well at night.

Clary and Jace, were unfortunately, also used to blaming anything that went wrong in the day on the other person. It was always that Jace was being too rough putting them in clothes, and that's why they wouldn't stop squirming. Or Clary was trying to feed them too early, and that's why they wouldn't eat. But these arguments were always forgotten 10 minutes later when something new drew their attention.

They decided to try something completely new one day. They hadn't been out as a family before, and it had been a few months since the twins were born. They decided they better give it a go.

They planned to go to this little cafe close to their home. They'd seen other parents there with babies before, and it seemed a friendly enough place for their first public outing.

They went through their usual morning routine of feeding and walking, but after changing them they put them into their car seats to sleep instead of their cots. Jace drove slowly both because he was afraid of hurting them and because he was afraid of waking them.

They got a park close to the cafe, and Clary started unbuckling the twins from their seats while Jace set up the stroller. They managed to slowly transfer the kids from their seats into the stroller without waking them up. Feeling hopeful that their trip might be successful, they started the short walk towards the cafe.

Out of nowhere, it felt like a hundred paparazzi swarmed around them. They were all yelling at Clary and Jace, and weirdly enough at the babies. While Jace yelled at them to get away from his children, Clary started laying a soft blanket over the hood of the pram so it covered them. Clary and Jace had made a very conscious effort not to post any pictures of the twins, so that one day, when they were old enough, _they _could make the choice of becoming a public figure like their parents or staying a little more hidden. Just because their parents were in the public eye, it didn't mean that their children had to be as well. Until that day, they were going to try hard to hide their identity, and Clary was trying desperately not to let go of that on their first outing.

Jace started pushing the stroller towards the cafe, hoping to get inside and away from this mess, when Ella started crying. Clary could barely hear her scream above the yell of the paparazzi and the flashing of cameras, but she did hear it. She decided to ignore it, hoping she'd be able to settle her down once they got inside the cafe, but then she heard Teddy start crying as well. She quickly looked under the blanket, and saw that they both looked, understandably terrified.

"We've got to go, Jace," she tried to say over the yell of the paparazzi.

"Are they okay?" Jace asked, flashing an angry look at a photographer who was getting a little too close for comfort. "Eh buddy, back up yeah?"

"They're not going to settle for a while. Especially if they all hang outside the cafe, which they will," Clary said, placing her hand on her husband's arm, "we've got to go home."

Jace nodded at her, and told her to push the stroller. Jace stood in front, clearing a path, while Clary followed closely behind.

They quickly put the babies back in their car seats, under the watchful eye of the large group of photographers still following them. As soon as everyone was safely in the car, Jace zoomed off, no longer having to be conscious about waking his kids, who were still crying in the back seat.

A while later, Clary and Jace had managed to settle them. They crept away from their bedroom towards the kitchen, where Jace got them both a drink.

"Well," Clary said, after taking a sip, "that wasn't successful."

"We couldn't have known," Jace says.

"But we probably should have guessed," Clary says, angry at herself. "Somehow, every morning without fail photos of you get released walking each twin."

Jace puts his glass down on the table and covers his face with his hands, drumming his fingers into the sides of his head.

"If we can't protect them," Clary whispers, "then what's the point."

Jace lowers his hands from his face. "What do you mean?"

"I mean… they're not safe here. They're two months old and people are practically stalking them to get a photo - in a gated community," she says, sitting on the floor.

Jace knew she was thinking about the time the man broke into her house.

"It's not like that, Clary," Jace says, sitting down next to her.

"Photos are where it starts," she says, refusing to look him in the eye.

"Clary-" Jace says, but they both look up the stairs as they hear a cry on the baby monitor.

"I've got it," Clary says. "I'll call you if I need help."

So Clary went away up the stairs, leaving Jace sitting on the floor trying to figure out how to convince her that her family was safe. Not much sooner, he heard her speaking to the twins on the monitor.

"Hey Teddy," she said, "shh shh, it's okay. Mommy's here now. A bad dream? I get them too. Come here my sweet little boy."

He assumed she was rocking him for a while, because his cries eventually stopped, but then he heard whimpers coming from Ella. Clary began to sing 'Pure Imagination' from Willy Wonka, and Jace sat listening to and enjoying the soft sounds of Clary singing to their children. She stops singing, and Jace waits for her to come back downstairs so they can finish their conversation, but she still doesn't appear after a few minutes.

Jace assumes she's gone and done something upstairs so that she doesn't have to keep talking to him, but however uncomfortable it may be, this is a conversation they need to have.

He goes upstairs and searches in their bedroom, and then the bathroom and music room, but he can't find her. He eventually thinks to look in the nursery, and he sees Clary sitting on the ground between the two cribs, her back leaning against the wall, asleep. Her arms are slightly outstretched towards each crib, so Jace assumes she was holding onto the bars, but after falling asleep, her arms fell back towards her body.

Jace quietly walked into the room, careful not to wake the twins, before picking Clary up and walking her towards their bedroom. The conversation could wait until she woke up, Jace thought. They'd both been encouraged by their doctor to try and sleep whenever their babies did, but because they always had such short naps, it didn't make a lot of sense for Clary and Jace to try and fall asleep as well, only to be woken twenty minutes later.

Jace made sure that the twins waking a little while later doesn't wake Clary as well. Clary wakes up a few hours later, and finds Jace feeding both the twins in the kitchen. He's got a bottle in each hand, which the twins are sucking on eagerly.

"Hey," Jace says to her, looking up at her for a moment before watching the twins again.

"Looks like you've got everything sorted out," Clary says, yawning. Their previous conversation had been completely forgotten by them both.

"I thought I would give you a chance to sleep," Jace says, stepping away from the twins now that they were done with their bottles. Clary walks over to them and kisses them both on the head, before walking over to the fridge, looking for something her and Jace could eat for dinner that night.

"Everyone's coming over tonight, by the way," Jace says, not looking up from the sink where he was washing out the bottles.

"What?" Clary says, quickly shutting the fridge door. "Jace we don't really have the food to have people over."

"It's okay - I told them that. They're bringing food," Jace says, putting the bottles into the dishwasher. "They know what's been going on - no one's going to judge you."

"I don't care if they judge me," Clary says. She's practically grown up with most of them - they'd judged her before and they would do it again, "I just literally can't feed them. The groceries aren't being delivered until tomorrow."

"It's fine Clary," Jace says. Before Clary has time to argue again, the doorbell rings.

"Thanks for the warning," Clary says, and then goes over to open the door.

"Where is my beautiful Goddaughter!" Izzy says by way of greeting, and then speeds into the house in pursuit of the baby. By the time Clary and everyone else has made it back to the kitchen, Izzy was already holding Ella and bouncing around.

"My Teddy Bear!" Magnus says when he sees Teddy, and follows Izzy's lead by picking him up and bouncing him around.

Simon joins Izzy holding Ella while Alec starts putting food in the fridge. "Kit's coming," he tells Clary, "he's just…"

"Kit," Clary finishes, completely understanding that you can't expect Kit to show up on time. A few minutes later, he arrives, rushing into the house with another bag full of food.

"How's the baby life treating you?" he asks, laughing at her appearance.

"How's the bachelor life treating you?" she asks instead of responding.

"Ah! You forget I'm not single anymore," Kit says, opening up a bag of chips he brought.

"A world where Christopher Rook isn't single… how time's change!" Simon says.

"A world where Simon Lewis has a hot wife and baby fever… how time's change," Kit responds.

"Not that I don't love you all and everything," Clary says, "but what _are_ you all doing here?"

"Jace didn't tell you?" Magnus asks.

"To be completely honest, things are a little crazy around here - it may have slipped my mind," Jace answers, not looking anyone in the eye.

"Explains why she looks like that," Izzy says, eyeing her sweatpants.

"I just woke up!" Clary says.

"Well, it's time to go get ready, biscuit, because you're going on a date!" Magnus says, booping Teddy on the nose.

"On a date?" Clary says. "I'm not going on a date."

"Yes, you are," Izzy says.

"You need to leave the house, Clary," Alec says kindly.

"We've tried that, it wasn't really successful," Clary says, thinking of the paparazzi swarming them.

"That's why you're going to leave the babies at home," Simon says, looking sympathetic.

"And who's going to look after them?" Clary says. When they all look at her with a 'duh' face she says, "look I love you guys, but I'm not leaving my babies alone with you."

"You're not going to leave your babies with their Godparents?" Simon asks.

"And me!" Kit says, still eating chips.

"Jace?" Clary says. If he was involved in this, she wasn't going to be happy.

"Clary, we could really use some alone time," Jace says, pausing so she could think of all the arguments they'd had in the past month. "And they promised to call me if they were unsure about anything. And they're going to stay here all night so everything will be here for them. I'm going to give them a bath and get them into their pyjamas while you get ready, and then you'll be able to feed them and put them in bed, so all they'll really have to do is get up a few times if they start crying. And give them breakfast."

"And why won't I be giving them breakfast?" Clary asks.

"Because we'll be staying at a hotel tonight - we can sleep in and get room service, and come home tomorrow morning," Jace says.

"Why do we need to stay at a hotel? Isn't leaving them to have dinner enough?" Clary asks.

"Because you need to get laid Clary," Izzy says bluntly. Clary sees all the guys shiver just thinking about it.

"And there will be five of us here taking care of two babies," Simon says.

"You forget that Izzy and I looked after Max all the time when he was a baby," Alec says.

"And I've babysat heaps of kids," Magnus adds.

"And we always used to babysit my cousin," Simon says.

"I'm more here for moral support," Kit says, "but you know, I'll do what I can."

"I don't know," Clary says. She was okay with going out to dinner, but being away from them the whole night?

"We'll go to dinner first," Jace says, "and we'll see how you're feeling and if you want to come home, then you can. And that's totally fine."

"Fine," Clary says, reluctantly, "but if I say I want to come home, no matter when it is, you have to agree okay?" Jace nods back at her. "And you all have to promise to call even if you have the smallest question."

"Yes, Clary we'll call!" Izzy says, dramatically, "now come with me so I can get you ready!"

So Izzy got Clary ready while Jace got the babies ready, and after feeding them, putting them to bed and making everyone promise they would call one more time, Clary and Jace were off on their date.

"I can't believe you ambushed me into having a date," Clary says after they'd been seated at the restaurant Jace had chosen.

"Would you have said yes if there weren't already all there in person," Jace asks, smirking.

"I mean, probably not," Clary admits, "but that's not the point."

"It's exactly the point," Jace says, "you've been so preoccupied with taking care of the kids that you haven't had a moment for yourself. And before you say that's the point of being a mother, I want to tell you that you deserve a little bit of time to yourself. Just one night, and then right back into the hard work, Herondale."

"Yeah, yeah," Clary says, taking a sip of the champagne Jace had ordered. It was the first time she'd drunk any alcohol in almost a year, and it was going straight to her head. By the time she'd finished her first glass, she was giggling along to everything Jace was saying and was considerably less stressed about leaving the babies.

"They'll be fine," Clary said loudly, and she laughed as everyone looked at them, and continued speaking a little bit quieter, "they're going to call if anything happens."

"And nothing will happen," Jace says, pouring her another glass of champagne. It was nice to see Clary lightening up a bit.

"What do you think they're going to be like?" Clary asks after her second glass.

"I'm sure they're doing a great job. I have faith in all of them - I mean even in Kit, which is amazing," Jace says.

"Not them!" Clary says, laughing at her husband's mistake. "Ella and Teddy. What do you think they'll be like?"

"Oh. Well, I think they're going to be beautiful little children," Jace says, bending down to pick up the fork Clary had knocked off the table.

"Yeah but like… do you think they're going to be into music, or acting or something completely different?" she asks again.

"I think they're going to try a little bit of everything," Jace says.

"I just hope they're happy," Clary says.

The waiter comes and drops off the dessert menu, and Jace tells her a few things that he thinks look good.

"I really shouldn't," Clary says, sighing.

"And why's that?" Jace asks, amused.

"Because I still have baby weight to lose, and I mean I've already drunk a bunch of champagne," she says, looking at the nearly empty bottle.

"First of all, Clary, I think you're absolutely stunning," Jace says, "and secondly, you deserve a piece of chocolate cake or a brownie if you want it. I'm not going to force you to eat anything, but if you want it, get it!"

She smiles at him, and when the waiter comes back, she orders the chocolate brownie with ice cream.

After they finish their meal, Clary is feeling very generous and leaves a massive tip for both their server and the chef.

"So, what do you want to do?" Jace asks, helping Clary into her coat.

"They haven't called," Clary says, shrugging, "so maybe we could go to the hotel."

"Okay sounds good. I think I saw some cameras outside, so why don't you wait here until I can get us a cab?" Jace says.

Clary nods, leaning against the wall, "I'll be waiting!"

"Okay," Jace says, laughing as he heads outside.

As Jace assumed, there's a bunch of paparazzi outside, all asking where Clary is and how the babies are. Jace ignores them and tries to hail a cab. When one pulls up, he hurries inside and gets Clary, who, despite being very tipsy, is able to walk to and get into the cab without revealing as much.

"How are my babies?" Clary asks, walking into the house the next morning.

"We're good, how are you?" Kit replies.

"They're good," Alec says, hitting Kit in the chest. Clary rushes to where both the twins are sitting in their high chairs and starts raining kisses down all over the heads, faces and arms.

"Mommy missed you, yeah she missed you so much," Clary says in a baby voice.

Jace reaches over and picks up Ella, bouncing her up and down and kissing her. He sniffs her for a second, and then says, "does somebody need a diaper change? I think they do!" in the same baby voice Clary was using.

"So you both do that. You know, use that voice?" Kit asks Clary, who now had Teddy in her arms.

"Yeah," Clary says, no longer using the baby voice, "I don't know when it started."

"Have you guys had breakfast yet?" Clary asks them all. "The groceries should be here in a minute - I could cook up some bacon and eggs?"

They all agree, and once the groceries arrive, Clary does just that.

They all sit outside on the massive picnic table, eating.

"Thank you all, by the way," Clary says, "I had a very nice night."

"She got drunk!" Jace says, reaching for the plate of bacon.

"After like, three glasses of champagne. It was so embarrassing!" Clary says.

"Little light weight Clary is back!" Simon says. "The first time we ever drank together, Clary was like fifteen and we'd had the same amount to drink and I was fine and she was stumbling all over the place."

"God, I was so sick the next morning," Clary says, remembering that night.

"Okay, well the more important question," Izzy pipes up, "is not how drunk you got - although I'm glad you had fun."

Clary raises her eyebrows, asking what the important is.

"It's if you two got down and dirty of course," Izzy says, winking.

Neither of them answer, but Clary goes bright red and Jace quickly moves onto a new topic, which tells Izzy all she needs to know.

"Well," Magnus says, "I'm glad that you two had fun, but there was actually another purpose to last night's activities."

Clary looks at Magnus totally confused. "Not _your_ activities!" he quickly clarifies.

"Magnus and I were using it as a sort of test," Alec says, holding his husband's hand. "To see if we were ready to adopt."

"Well to two did practically everything!" Izzy says, practically buzzing with joy, "you'd be great dads!"

"We've decided that we're ready," Magnus says, smiling at Alec.

"Oh my God!" Izzy yells "I'm going to be an aunt!"

* * *

I hope you enjoyed that chapter :) Also just a note - I'm Australian but I'm trying to write this like it American, because Clary and Jace are America, so if there's inconsistency in the terms used (I kept writing pram but had to replace it with stroller) or mistakes in the spelling that might be the reason! Anyway, please review and I hope you all are happy and healthy :)


	24. Chapter 24: Back Into It

**Chapter 24: Back Into It**

Hello everyone! I hope you're all safe and healthy. Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter, I've just got my exams coming up so I've been a bit busy, but when they're all finished, I'll be able to go back to two chapters a week for a while, so that'll be nice! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

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Ever since Clary and Jace went on their date, things seemed to ease up a little. They were more confident about leaving the house, and they knew that if they really needed a break, there were other people who were more than happy to help.

Magnus and Alec were keen to get in as much practise before they adopted their first baby, so they would come over all the time, which gave Clary and Jace a good break. Clary had even decided that she might be ready to get back into work.

They had also started a new tradition. Every Friday night, whoever was in L.A. would come over to Clary and Jace's house for, what they liked to call, family dinner. Everyone was currently sitting around the table, marvelling at how much they'd grown up - Kit had even shown up on time tonight, although Clary assumed that was largely due to Livvy's influence.

"Who would have thought that nine short years after signing that fateful contract that we'd still be sitting here; not in a band anymore but just as close," Simon says.

"And that three out of four of us would be married," Alec says, "and Simon to my sister," he adds, as if that is the most surprising part.

"And there would be two babies - and plans of more," Clary says, smiling at Alec and Magnus.

"And that I would have committed to a relationship!" Kit says, clearly excited that his and Livvy's three month anniversary was coming up. Before now, the longest relationship he'd been in was pretending to date Clary.

"I can confidently say you're all adults now," Magnus says proudly, "yes, even you Kit."

"And I just want to say thank you," Jace says, bouncing Ella on his knee, "for letting me join you guys. For taking me in and letting me be a part of this family."

"Look, we probably wouldn't have if Clary didn't make us," Simon says, shrugging. It was true that Simon had a lot of reservations towards Jace in the beginning, but they were actually quite close now.

They kept on talking, thinking about how much they'd grown up, and reminiscing on stories from their past. Like how Kit didn't approve of Clary until he heard her play the drums, or how they'd once stayed up for forty hours straight to finish an album and do two concerts.

When everyone was getting ready, Clary pulled Magnus to the side. "Hey, I know this really isn't the time to talk business, but I was thinking…"

"About what?" Magnus asks.

"That maybe it would be good to be in another movie again. It's less of a commitment than touring, but it'll have more of a schedule than writing. And I think I'm ready to start working again," Clary explains.

"What kind of movie?" Magnus asks, sounding intrigued. He'd thought of a few things she might want to ask him, but he didn't think it would go here.

"One that's in L.A. definitely, and I was thinking maybe something that's family friendly, so if I really needed to I could bring Ella and Teddy to work," Clary says, looking behind Magnus every few seconds at everyone else.

"Okay, I'll see what I can find," Magnus says.

"And could we keep this between us - I haven't told Jace yet, but I just wanted to see if there was anything to tell first." Clary adds quickly, and then smiles at Jace across the room.

"Of course," Magnus says, "I'll let you know what I find in a few days, yeah?"

"Thank you!" Clary says, squeezing his hand quickly.

"Can I just ask, not to pressure you or anything… more out of curiosity. When's the next album?" Magnus asks.

"I don't know. I couldn't imagine leaving Ella and Teddy, but I also know I don't want to tour with two babies. A couple years, at least. Probably - who really knows," Clary says. The truth is, she hadn't felt that pull towards music like she normally did. Sure she loved singing a lullaby to the twins, and she'd sing along to the radio and in the shower, but she hadn't written anything in months. She'd actually gotten right back into her art, and was beginning to dance a bit again.

"Right, well I'll let you know about any roles shortly," Magnus says, and then goes back over to Alec who is saying goodbye to the babies.

"Okay, don't be angry," Jace says to Clary a few days later.

"What would I be angry about?" Clary asks, quickly running through a list of what he may have done in her head.

"I've got an audition tomorrow - it's for a movie in L.A., and it's just the audition. You know Izzy's been sending me scripts and I really like this one. But it's just the audition, and then if I get the part we can really talk about me accepting the role," Jace says, obviously feeling the need to explain himself.

"I'm not angry," Clary says, smiling at him.

"You're not?" Jace says, sounding surprised.

"No, Jace," Clary says, "I get it - the twins are a few months old now, and you've been so good. I get you wanting to go back to work. And it's in L.A. and we'll be able to sort everything out."

"What, have you been thinking about getting back into work as well?" Jace asks, curious.

"Sort of," Clary admits, "but not an album or anything. What role is it for anyway?"

"Oh, it's for Hercules in the new Disney live action remake. The script looks really good, and I think they said Danny DeVito has already signed on. I just thought it would be good to be in a movie that my kids could watch, you know… when they're still kids."

"You were in Peter Pan," Clary says. She's never told him, but she had a massive crush on him in that movie when she was younger.

"You liked that one, did you?" Jace says, noticing the slight blush on her cheeks, which became much redder at that statement.

"It was alright," Clary says, fighting to keep her voice even.

Clary phone rings, and she sees a very sparkly picture of Magnus grace her screen, "hold that thought for a moment - it's Magnus," Clary says to Jace, who had wrapped his arms around her waist.

She goes out to the back deck, and looks back at Jace once, who is still watching her every move, before answering the phone. "Hey Mags."

"Biscuit," he says, "I've found a few roles I think you would be great in - my personal pick is Megara in the new Hercules, but there are a few others that look good. I'm getting the scripts sent over to you later today, and after you've decided which one's you like I'll set up some auditions."

"Hercules?" Clary says. She hadn't thought about being in another movie with Jace, but it might actually be perfect. "Would you be able to set up an audition for that? Not tomorrow… but any other time."

"Oh yeah, sure. Have you heard about that already?" Magnus asks.

"Oh, here and there," Clary says.

"Okay," Magnus says, "I'll set it up and send over the details."

"Thank you Mags," Clary says. The moment she hangs up the phone, she feels Jace wrap his arms around her waist again.

"What did he need?" he asks, whispering in her ear.

"Nothing too important," Clary answers, turning around in Jace arms.

A few days later, both Clary and Jace had gone to their auditions. Jace had come home feeling very confident, and they both agreed that if he got the role, then he should definitely do the movie. He got the call the next day telling him he'd gotten the role. She'd still hadn't told him that she'd gone for an audition. She'd lightly brought up the idea that she might want to be in another movie, and he'd agreed it would be a great idea, but she hadn't mentioned it again.

She'd gotten the call that morning telling her the role was hers if she wanted it, but she knew she'd have to talk to Jace before making any decisions.

"So I just got off the phone with one Isabelle Lewis," Jace tells Clary, sitting down on the couch next to her. "And she told me that they've already chosen who will be playing Meg for the movie."

Clary's heart started beating faster. Did he already know it was her? Was he going to be angry that she didn't tell him about the audition before now.

"Which is weird," Jace continues, "because usually they'd run a couple chemistry tests at least. Which made me think that maybe I've worked with her before, so they already know we work well together."

"You know, don't you?" Clary asks.

"Know what?" Jace asks. Clary assumes he's feigning ignorance so that she has to tell him.

"That's it's me," Clary says, sighing. She was hoping she'd be able to tell him - she thought it might be better that way.

"It's you?" Jace asks confused. And then it seems to click that it's Clary who's playing the role. "It's you!" he says much more excited this time.

"You're not angry - I haven't accepted anything, I can still turn it down if you want," Clary says.

"Turn it down… why do you think I wouldn't want to work with you?" Jace asks. "Do you not want to work with me?"

"No I do!" Clary says, "that's the main reason I auditioned. I just… get it if you want this to be about you."

"No Clary, I know I've said shitty things before, but I would love to be in another movie with you," Jace says.

"Okay," Clary says, excited, "well, I'll tell Magnus!"

"Why didn't you tell me before now… I could've suggested you or something," Jace asks.

"That pretty much why. While I did want to be in a movie with you, I wanted to get the role based on my own merit… not because you told them to give it to me."

"I get that," Jace says, running his finger through her hair. "Now go tell Magnus that we're going to be in another movie together!"

But when Clary called Magnus, she didn't get an opportunity to tell him about accepting the role, because they'd just found out that they were getting a baby.

He very quickly, and very excitedly explained that someone had chosen them. She was three months pregnant, and couldn't keep the baby. That they were finally going to be parents!

Clary quickly called Jace over, and together they all celebrated over the phone. Needless to say, that Friday when everyone came over there was a lot of celebrating and talking about their baby. Everyone was so excited, they didn't even notice that Clary wasn't drinking.

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Please review! And please stay safe! I hope you liked that chapter, and I'll see you next week :)


	25. Chapter 25: A Misunderstanding

**Chapter 25: A Misunderstanding**

Hello everyone! Thank you for all of your lovely reviews, and for coming back for another chapter. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Clary and Jace had been filming Hercules for a couple of weeks now. So far, only one of them had only had to film at a time, so it made it a lot easier to look after the babies. On the odd occasion that they both had to film a scene in a day, they could share a trailer, and one could look after the babies while the other was filming. Usually, only one of them had to film in a day, so the other could stay home instead of taking the kids into work, which was always easier.

They were aware that they were going to start filming together soon. It was only going to be for a couple of weeks; Meg and Hercules don't actually have that many scenes together, but they still realised that they were going to have to hire a nanny.

"And why can't Izzy or Magnus just look after them while we're filming?" Jace asks, after they'd looked through a number of applicants. So far, nobody really had what they were looking for.

"Because that's not their job Jace. It's fine for them to do it every once in a while so we can go on a date - because they offer," Clary says, handing him another file. "And we're going to need a nanny in the future anyway; we can't go the rest of our lives with only one of us working at time."

"Right, but as much as possible, it'll be us looking after them, right?" Jace clarifies.

"Yeah, of course." Clary says. They'd talked at length about being involved in their kids lives as much as possible - not to be overbearing, but not be that Hollywood cliche that dumps their kids on the nanny as much as possible. "That's why we've made our arrangement."

Clary and Jace decided it was worth paying their babysitter way more than usual so that they could be called on whenever they were needed. This meant that they pay them all the time, even if they weren't working, but if something suddenly came up, then they could call their nanny. Essentially, it meant that Clary and Jace could be at home as much as possible without worrying that it was going to affect their work.

"This lady - Diana Wrayburn, looks quite good. It says here that she's got good experience with a large number of kids before - including famous families. And that she owns her own antique shops, but if necessary she'd be able to close it and come look after the kids," Jace says, reading off the file he was holding.

Clary and Jace read over it together, and set up an interview.

Another reason Clary had been going onto the set recently, even though Jace had a lot more scenes that her, was to help with the music. It started out with just helping in the recording room when there was a spare minute, but she'd recently started learning about scoring music and was learning a lot from the musical supervisor.

It had really opened her eyes to all of the ways she could get music back into her life - she didn't just have to write, record and tour an album. She could produce others, mix the music or even work on soundtracks. She knew that was another way she'd be able to work with Jace again in the future, and that was something she definitely wanted to do.

It had also been a few weeks since she'd felt sick, so she thought that her assumption had been wrong, and she was just being paranoid. It could've been stress, a food bug, or even just because her hormones were out of whack. It's also what she told herself when her period didn't come back. But just in case she hadn't been drinking.

But now, her suspicions were beginning to return. She'd been craving the same food as when she was pregnant with the twins. And not everyday, but most days in the week she'd been sick. She'd booked a doctors appointment to make sure she wasn't pregnant, but there was a big part of her that thought she already knew the answer.

She hadn't told Jace yet, because she didn't want to get his hopes up only for it to be a false alarm. Or, she didn't want to stress him out. They'd talked a few times about having more kids, but every time they did, they'd agreed that they would wait a little while.

Clary heard Jace opening the door of their trailer on the movie set, and Clary quickly flushed the toilet, before getting up and trying not to reveal that she'd just been sick. She got a glass of water while Jace said hello to the babies, before softly running her fingers through his hair and heading out to the set.

She'd tried to hide it, but Jace had seen everything, and was deeply concerned. Later that night, after they'd put the kids to bed and eaten dinner, he told Clary that he had to go over to Izzy's for a little while.

"It's pretty late," Clary says, "can't you just call. Or go over tomorrow?"

"Oh, it won't take too long," Jace says, grabbing his car keys. "She's just got to show me a few things."

"Okay…" Clary says, watching him walk into the garage.

The whole drive there, he can't stop the horrible thought from running through his head.

"What did you need to talk about?" Izzy asks, after leading him through to the kitchen and getting him a drink.

"I'll just be in our bedroom," Simon says, leaving but Jace stops him.

"Actually, I'd like to talk to both of you, if that's okay."

"Is it about Clary?" Simon asks. When Jace nods back, Simon goes back to the kitchen and stands beside Izzy.

"Had Clary seemed off to you? I mean, the past couple of weeks?" Jace asks.

"I mean, maybe a little stressed," Izzy says, "but I put that down to the two babies and movie."

"She's seemed okay to me," Simon confirms.

"Well, it happened today - and I've seen or heard her doing it a few other times. And I mean it's probably nothing but then I don't want to _not_ help if it is something," Jace says, clearly lost in his own thoughts.

"Jace, I have no idea what you're talking about," Izzy says, clearly not following.

"Has she said anything to you guys about trying to lose weight? Maybe a diet, or new exercise?" Jace asks.

"I mean I know she's exercising - you both have been to get into shape for your roles," Simon says, "but Clary has always exercised. It's nothing you should really be concerned about."

"I mean, she's mentioned that she wants to lose her baby weight. She said she had some scene where she falls into a lake and her dress was going to cling to her. She said she didn't want to be carrying any extra weight when you guys filmed that scene," Izzy says.

"We're filming that at the end of the week," Jace says slowly.

"So what, you're worried about her trying to lose weight?" Simon asks.

"Why do you sound concerned?" Jace asks.

"Well, I mean I don't know if she's talked to you about this… it's probably not my place to say," Simon says.

"I'm her husband. If something is wrong with her, and I can help at all, then I need to know," Jace says.

Simon looks over at Izzy, who nods, urging him on, before sighing. "I'd say we were sixteen or seventeen. Clary had just started to take more of a lead in the band, and a lot more people were interested in her. There were a lot of people commenting on how she seemed really muscular - a couple of magazines said she had a body more similar to us than a normal girl - said we really were a boy band."

"Pigs," Izzy says, disgusted.

"I mean Clary was strong - she played the drums and did a fair amount of dance and everything. But when she found out what they were saying, she pretty much stopped dancing. She cut back on her diet and kept everything lean. And she would only 'sculpt' her body - as she said. It became out how she looked, not how she felt," Simon explains.

"Did she ever… throw up?" Jace asks, bracing for the answer.

"Not that I knew of. Magnus would probably know the most. After a while, he started taking her to doctors and dietitians and everything. But he would never tell us what they talked about… and we never asked," Simon says. "After a couple of months everything seems to go back to normal, but she never did get as strong again."

"Why, do you think it's happening again?" Izzy asks.

"I don't know," Jace says, running his hands through his hair. I just know that she's been sick, and she hasn't said anything about it, so I assume it's not a bug or something."

"Jace, I think you just need to talk to her," Izzy says.

"And if she brushes everything off," Simon says, "and you know it's still happening, talk to Magnus. He was the only one who was able to convince her to get help last time."

"Okay," Jace says, thinking about the tough conversation he was going to have to have, "thanks, guys."

"Let us know if she's okay, yeah?" Simon asks.

"Uh yeah, sure," Jace says. But he was already thinking about different things. He didn't want to have to go to Magnus. He was her husband, he should be able to fix this.

"How's Izzy?" Clary asks as Jace walks in from the garage.

"Clary I have to talk to you," Jace says, ignoring her question.

"Did something happen? Is everything okay?" Clary asks, standing up to meet him.

"I know you've been sick," Jace says, resting his hands on her shoulders. "And it's okay."

Clary's heart drops. "I was going to tell you. I just wasn't sure how."

"I know it's hard to talk about - but I know that we'll get through this together," Jace says, squeezing her shoulders a little.

"I've got a doctors appointment tomorrow - you can come if you want to. I was going to wait until after to tell you… but it's probably better this way."

"Of course I'll be there," Jace says. "I'm sure Izzy would be happy to take care of Ella and Teddy if we need her to."

"Oh no, it's okay. They can come," Clary says.

"Look, whatever they say tomorrow, I'm going to be there to help you through everything," Jace says.

"Well I mean…" Clary says, looking at him oddly, "it might not be anything. A false alarm."

"Clary, it's okay to admit you've got a problem. I'm going to love you no matter what," Jace says.

"I don't have a problem - do you think this is a problem?" Clary asks, sounding alarmed. "I mean I know it may be less than ideal, but it's not a _problem_. I mean, you're just as much to blame as I am!"

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Jace asks. If he said something to trigger this, he wasn't sure if he;d ever forgive himself.

"That I might be pregnant. What are you talking about?" Clary asks.

Jace sighs a breath of relief, "so your eating disorder hasn't come back. Oh, Clary. That's so good."

"An eating disorder? Why would you think I have an eating disorder - I'm absolutely fine," Clary asks, shocked.

"Because I heard you throwing up and - wait," Jace says, as if only just realising, "did you say that you're pregnant?"

"That I might be," Clary says, "I think I might be."

"Oh my God," Jace breathes out, before quickly closing the space between them, picking up Clary and spinning her around. After kissing her, he puts her back down and Clary laughs.

"I said I _think_. That's why I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow," Clary says. "And I was waiting until I knew for sure to tell you."

"Why would you wait?" Jace asks.

"Well, I wasn't sure if you even wanted to have another kid yet," Clary says.

"Of course I do," Jace says. "Obviously I love Ella and Teddy so much but…"

"Well that's a relief. But I also didn't want to get your hopes up if it was something else," Clary says.

"We do it all together, okay?" Jace says, "the highs, the lows - all of it."

"Yeah," Clary says, hugging Jace again, "together."

* * *

Sorry to leave you on a cliff hanger! Let me know what you think is going to happen... I hope you're all happy and healthy, and I'll see you next week :)


	26. Chapter 26: Congratulations!

**Chapter 26: Congratulations!**

Hello everyone and welcome back to another chapter! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed! Just a quick note before we get into this chapter - it is a bit shorter, but I've been studying for an exam that I've got tomorrow and didn't have a lot time to write. That being said, after tomorrow I'll be on holiday's for a while! That means for the next month or so I'll go up to two chapters a week! Now that's all done... on to the chapter!

* * *

"Well, Mrs and Mr Herondale, I can confirm that Clary is pregnant. She's about a month and a half along - it's a little early to say anything definitely yet, but it's looking like it's just the one baby this time around. We'll get you to come back in a few weeks to make sure everything is going how it should. Congratulations. I'll leave you two alone for a moment. You can organise your next appointment with Monica at the front desk," Doctor Jeremiah tells Clary and Jace.

Jace leans over and kisses Clary on the temple, smiling.

"Well, there's no guessing anymore," Clary says, grabbing a few tissues to start wiping the gel off her stomach.

Teddy starts fussing in the stroller, so Jace goes over to see what's wrong. "Guess what you two? You're going to have another brother or sister! Can you believe it?"

"Remember our rule Jace - three months," Clary warns.

"Who are they going to tell?" Jace replies, "they can't even speak yet!" Jace says this last part to the twins using his baby voice that everyone else hated, but Clary adored. They were really going to have another child. And so soon - there was barely going to be a year's difference between the twins and this next baby.

After pulling down her shirt, Clary and Jace sorted everything out and then got back in the car.

"The good news," Clary tells Jace, "is that if everything is similar to last time, I shouldn't start showing until we finish filming the movie. We've only got a month left, which should give a few weeks wiggle room for re-shoots and everything. It just probably means I won't be going on tour anytime soon… not that I was thinking about it anyway."

"You know you don't need to think about work right now," Jace tells her, "we could go somewhere and celebrate - there's that French patisserie just down the road that you love."

"We need to get these two home to nap!" Clary says, turning and smiling at the two babies in the back seat. "We can just go get lunch or something next week."

"If you insist…" Jace says, turning the car to go home. There was something in his tone that made Clary think he wasn't going to let it go so easily, but they shortly arrived home, and she soon forgot all about it.

"I'm going to have to get the band over to talk about a new timeline," Clary tells Jace after they put the twins in their room. "We'd been talking about starting to write the next album soon… I mean we were going to spend like, a year or so writing, but this will definitely change things."

"If you're changing your timeline, does that mean I should change mine?" Jace asks.

"What do you mean?" Clary asks, resting her feet on his lap for him to massage.

"Just that Izzy has set up a couple of auditions for movies that are meant to film after Hercules ends. I meant to tell you, I guess it just slipped my mind with everything else going on," Jace says, running his fingers up and down her legs.

"I mean… are they long shoots?" Clary asks, trying to sound calm, but her mind was racing trying to figure out dates and the timing of everything.

"They don't really give you all the information before you audition. I could get Izzy to find out more, but it'll probably just be easier to ask at the audition."

"So you're still going to audition?" Clary asks, more harshly than she intended to. It was just that it didn't even cross her mind not to push back dates. Then again, Clary being pregnant was always going to psychically, and likely emotionally take a much bigger toll on Clary than Jace. He didn't need to prepare for looking completely different, and not being able to move normally.

"Do you not want me to?" Jace asks, holding his hands still.

"No it's not that," the moment she says that, he resumes running his fingers across her legs, "I just guess it took me by surprise. There's no harm in auditioning - well have another talk after you're offered the role and know more about it."

Clary was never going to tell Jace he couldn't do something. She thought that if she did, and it turned out to be something great, he would always resent her for it. No, Jace had to come to this decision on her own, she just might need to nudge him in the right direction.

A few days later, Clary gets her whole band around, well Jem is on a video call, to talk about the future.

"Due to… some unforeseen circumstances," Clary tells them, "I'm going to have to delay a few things."

Magnus squints at her, and he quickly looks down at her belly before shooting back up to her face. Clary notices a knowing smile on his face, and quickly looks away before revealing anymore information.

"I'm still happy to start writing now," she tells them, "it just means that the album probably won't be released for another year and a half or so, and that the tour probably won't happen until a while after that."

"I'm happy to start writing now," Emma says.

"It'll give us time to get some good stuff," Jules agrees.

"And I don't mind if you want to travel or work on other things in the meantime," Clary says. "I get that this is probably less than ideal for you all."

"I'm happy with it - Mina's loving London at the moment, so it'll give us a good chance to stay here a little while longer," Jem says.

"I'm happy with whatever," George says, laid back as ever. "So long as there's a job to come back to one day."

"I promise there will be," Clary says quickly, which George laughs at.

"Clary, it's no stress," Emma tells her, "we get it… you've got two little kids, and a hot Hollywood husband - shit's going to happen."

"Thank you - you guys are the best!" Clary says.

"We know," George says, and Clary thinks about how well he would get on with Kit."

They all stay around and hang out a little longer, and just when everyone is about to leave, Jules pulls Clary aside.

"Hey, can I ask you something Clary?" he asks.

"Yeah, of course," Clary says.

"Has Emma… it's just I know you two talk all the time… has she ever mentioned Cameron Ashdown?" he asks.

Clary tries not to show how obvious the jealousy in his voice is when he says Cameron's name. "She's mentioned that they've gone on a few dates… and maybe something recently about them actually starting to date, why?"

"I just… she won't talk to me about him. It's not like us to not talk. And to be totally honest with you, I think he's a wanker," when he realises that he said that out loud, he goes bright red. "Can you not tell Emma I said that please. She'd kill me."

"Your secret's safe with me," Clary tells him. "And I'll let you know if she says anything else, okay?"

"Yeah, okay. Thanks Clary," Jules says, and then he hurries out the door towards the car that Emma is waiting in.

When are those two going to realise how perfect they are for each other?

"It's so obvious," Magnus says, looking down at her stomach once again.

"What is?" Clary says, trying to sound nonchalant.

"That he has the biggest crush on her," Magnus says, smiling.

"Oh, yeah. That. Super obvious," Clary says, folding and refolding the tea towel on the kitchen bench.

"Will Jace be ready to leave soon?" he asks, a small smile still playing at his lips.

"Umm yeah," Clary says, "he should be. He was just getting the twins ready I think."

Simon and Izzy had asked everyone to come over to their house for some big announcement.

"So, what have you gathered us all here for?" Kit asks, lounging on the couch. "It wasn't just to see my beautiful face was it? Because I could've sent a photo. I know it's not as amazing as the real thing… but it would've lasted longer."

Clary knew that something big must have been happening, because Simon doesn't tell Kit to shut up, so Alec does it for him.

"We asked you all here, because we've got some exciting news," Simon says. Clary thought there was a possibility that they were both moving back to New York.

They don't say anything else for a little while, and everyone just stares at them eagerly before Magnus tells them, "I mean if you're not going to tell us, well start guessing. And that could get quite mean, quite quickly."

Simon and Izzy look at each other for a moment longer, before announcing, "we're pregnant!"

"Well, actually Izzy is. But helped!" Simon adds.

Everyone jumps up and hugs them and congratulates them.

"It was three months yesterday," Izzy tells them all a short while later, resting her hands on her stomach.

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" Kit asks, "A Christopher or a Catherine?"

"That's never going to happen," Simon tells him, and then adds, "it's too early yet. There's still another month or so, I think."

"Congratulations Iz," Clary tells her.

"Well, now Ella and Teddy can have some friends…" Izzy says, "and who knows… maybe you could have another little one soon who can be best friends with ours!"

"Wouldn't that be great!" Clary says, but tries to quickly move the conversation on, which Kit thankfully helps with.

"Not to stop everyone from celebrating… because I'll be getting a bottle of… something in a minute. But none of you have told me if you can come to my concert yet. And it's in a week. So you know… I was hoping for a little more enthusiasm for my first show from my best friends!"

"Ahhh, he admitted we're his friends," Jace says, hugging him.

"Well," Kit says, trying to shrug Jace off, "it was bound to happen one day."

"Of course we're coming," Magnus says, "we thought it was just a given."

"Well… now that that's settled, let's pop something open!" Kit replies.

* * *

Hope you all liked that! Please give me any ideas of what you want to see in the story, and I'll be sure to work them in! Also let me know if you'd like to see a bit more of Clary and Jace filming together, or if you just want me to skip over that. I hope you're all happy and healthy, and I'll see you at the next chapter :)


	27. Chapter 27: New Life

**Chapter 27: New Life**

Hello everyone and welcome to another chapter! Starting again this week I'm going to start uploading new chapters twice a week! There will be this normal chapter on Tuesdays (possibly Mondays for you), and another chapter on Fridays (possibly a Thursdays for you)! I'll also be asking a question at the end of this chapter that I would really appreciate if you answered!

* * *

"So today," Jace tells Clary as they walk to the set together, "I save your life."

"Your character saves my character's life," Clary clarifies, "don't go getting ahead of yourself there buddy."

"Well, you really shouldn't go making deals with the devil," Jace says, smirking at her.

"I made a deal with Hades," Clary says, "not the devil. And really, I only died because I was saving your life. So you owe me one."

"Oh is that right?" Jace asks, and he quickly starts chasing after Clary. He easily catches up and picks her up, throwing her over his shoulder and walking her to set.

"You know," Clary says, still hung over his shoulder, "I really don't mind the view."

He softly places her in her chair, and says, "that's not appropriate talk for work, Mrs Herondale."

"Then don't give me a chance to stare at your butt, and I won't comment on it," Clary says, smiling up at him.

"How are you two still so in love?" Stanley Tucci, who was playing Hades asks, "doesn't the whole twins thing take it out of you?"

"Maybe one day," Clary admits, "but not yet."

"Actors to set," someone calls.

"Well hold onto it," Stanley says, before heading onto set.

"Act well," Clary tells Jace as she heads in the opposite direction of him.

"Thanks for the tip!" he calls out, grinning at her.

They were close to finishing filming - they only had this scene and one other left to film. It had been a great experience, especially when Clary had gotten used to the idea of the twins staying home with Diana. She was a great babysitter, she just felt weird not being around them.

She wasn't sure when, or if she was ever going to do another movie with Jace, so she was really trying to make this one count.

Clary had to lay down on the rock and play dead, and Jace would carry her 'soul' back to her body, and she would wake up. After making sure that she was in the right position, someone applies some more powder to her face and then they were ready to film.

Jace comes over carrying the 'soul', and after kneeling down next to her, someone yells 'wake', and Clary slowly opens her eyes and smiles up at Jace, who smiles back down at Clary.

"Wonder boy," she says, "what… why did you…"

He slowly helps her stand up while saying, "people always do crazy things… when they're in love."

She gasps as her smile grows bigger, and they both lean in to kiss each other, but just before their lips meet, the director calls cut.

The film the scene over again for the rest of the morning, and on their final take, they don't listen to the director calling cut, and actually, finally kiss. They kiss for a moment, before they hear laughing, and the director says, "okay… that's enough you two. I think we can call that a wrap for this scene.

Clary and Jace both laugh, before heading to craft service to get some lunch.

"Really, it's perfect timing," Clary says, looking at herself in the mirror. "I mean, we only finished filming a week ago - anytime soon and it would have been obvious I was pregnant."

Clary's stomach had 'popped' one week after they'd finished filming Hercules - something she'd been slightly worried about happening too soon. Sure, there was always creative editing and effective use of props, but it made everything so much easier that it happened a little later.

"Well," Jace says, "I'm thankful that it happened at all."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Clary asks, pulling down her shirt and laying on the bed next to Jace.

"Just that I don't think I've told you how happy I am about this enough. I know you were nervous to tell me, and I've realised that's completely on me - I should have been more open with you from the beginning," Jace says, resting his hand on top of Clary's.

"Well, I'm glad you're happy," Clary says, "because this baby's coming in six months whether you like it or not!"

"Well I do like it - love it. I love you," Jace says to Clary's stomach, "and your mommy."

Clary kisses Jace on top of the head, before scooching off the bed.

"I'm going to go feed the twins, and then can you get them changed? I don't want to be late to Magnus and Alec's," Clary asks Jace

"Whatever you need," Jace says, getting off the bed himself and heading into the bathroom.

Clary goes down the hall to the twins room, where they are both lying awake in their cots.

"Good morning my beautiful little babies!" Clary says, opening the blinds to let in some light. "Did you sleep well? Do you want some breakfast?"

Clary picks up both kids and takes them down to the living room, places them both in the high chairs and begins preparing the formula for them.

Just before they finish their bottles, Jace comes down to the kitchen, kisses Clary on the temple and takes the bottles from her so she can go get ready herself.

After showering and getting ready, Clary goes back to the kitchen. On her way, she can hear Jace talking to one of the babies while he dresses them. She makes Jace and herself a cup of coffee, and the whole family is in the car and on the way to Magus and Alec's right on time.

"I wonder how they're handling it?" Jace asks as they pull into the driveway.

"I'm sure they're doing fabulously," Clary says.

After Jace parks, she gets Teddy, and Jace gets Ella and they head inside. They can hear Izzy and Simon talking in the living room, and quickly follow the sound.

"You are just precious, aren't you!" Izzy says, speaking in a baby voice, "and now I have one beautiful goddaughter, and a very handsome godson!"

"Hello!" Jace calls out as they enter the living room.

Everyone, save Izzy, turns to greet them.

"And how are the new parents?" Clary asks Magnus and Alec as they come to hug her.

"We've been handling it very well," Magnus says matter-of-factly. "It's all actually quite easy this parenting thing."

"This is the first time he's put product in this hair in days," Alec reveals, smirking. "_And_ that's the first belt he's worn."

Clary laughs a little, but quickly stops when she sees Magnus's sour expression. "But seriously, it's been okay?"

"Yeah," Alec says, "I mean sure we're tired, and I don't remember what it's like to sleep through the night… but we're getting on fine."

"Welcome to parenthood," Clary says, "you're going to love it!"

Jace was already sitting on the couch introducing Teddy to Raphael, "and he's going to be just like a cousin," Jace is telling Teddy, "and you two, and Ella are all going to be best friends!"

"Hey Clary, would you be able to help me please!" Magnus calls from the kitchen. Clary hands Ella off to Simon, who was sitting on the other side of Izzy and heads towards the kitchen to help Magnus.

"What do you need?" Clary asks, nudging him with her shoulder.

"I just wanted to tell you, congratulations," Magnus says, smiling down at her.

"For what?" Clary asks.

"That flowy shirt isn't fooling me, Clary Herondale," Magnus says, raising an eyebrow.

"Shhhh," Clary says, and then purposely pushes the tea towel off the bench so they both have to duck behind the kitchen island to pick it up. "Okay so… yeah, I'm pregnant. But please don't tell anyone for a while."

"But Jace knows… right?" Magnus asks.

"Yeah, of course he does. We're just not telling people yet," Clary says in a hushed voice.

"Why not… if your stomachs popped you must be at least three months, if not more," Magnus asks.

"It's just not the right time," Clary says.

"Hey Clary, are you okay?" Jace calls from the couch. Clary gives Magnus a look, grabs the tea towel and stands back up.

"Yeah, was just getting this," Clary says, holding up the tea towel. Magnus slowly raises beside her, and Jace gives them both a confused look, but continues talking to the babies anyway.

"Now did you actually need help with anything?" Clary asks.

"Ummm, just take that tray over to the coffee table please," Magnus says, pointing at a tray with pasties beautifully arranged on it.

"How do you find the time?" Clary asks herself, picking up the tray.

"Because I've only got one," Magnus whispers.

"Oh, shut up!" Clary says.

Clary places the tray down on the coffee table and sits next to Simon, getting a good look at Raphael for the first time in real life.

"He really is beautiful you guys," Clary says, leaning over and tickling him on the stomach.

"How'd Max react when you told him he was the Godfather?" Kit asks, leaning on the couch behind Clary.

"I thought he might actually pee himself," Alec says, smiling at the memory.

"He couldn't sit still for the rest of the dinner," Magnus adds. And then he went out and bought Raph all of these comic books for us to read to him - we didn't have the heart to tell him that he was too young."

"Hey, you're never too young to start reading comic books," Simon says.

"Damn straight," Clary says, and then fist bumps Simon's.

"You two are such nerds," Jace says.

"What did we marry?" Izzy agrees.

"Hey, don't sit here and pretend like you don't love Star Wars," Simon says.

"Yeah but they're movies…" Izzy says as if this justifies everything.

"There are Star Wars comic books," Simon says.

"Really?" Izzy asks, sounding slightly excited.

"See! You're a nerd too!" Simon tells Izzy.

"What'd you do to her?" Kit asks, "she used to be so cool."

"Hey!" Izzy and Simon say at the same time.

"Can we stop talking about some books and continue talking about how fabulous our new son is!" Magus asks.

"Sorry Mags, of course we can," Izzy says.

And so they spent the rest of the day letting the babies play, and talking about how beautiful Raphael was.

A few days later, Jace comes home in the afternoon looking very happy.

"What'd you just do?" Clary asks, "see a mirror?" And then she laughs at her joke.

"Ha ha," Jace says, "I just got home from my audition."

This sobers Clary up. "Your audition?"

"Yeah, remember. I told you about it a couple of days ago?" Jace says, kissing each of his kids on the cheek.

"I guess I just thought… never mind. How'd it go?" Clary asks, sounding a little lost.

"It went really well," Jace says enthusiastically. "They pretty much gave me the role. Said nothing had compared to my audition yet, and they didn't think anything could."

"That's… great," Clary says.

"Why don't you seem as excited by this as I am?" Jace asks.

"I just umm… I'm pregnant," Clary says.

"I'm aware," Jace says, amused.

"And we've got twins," Clary says, begging him to connect the dots.

"Another thing I'm aware of," Jace says, his smile fading a little.

"Right," Clary says.

"So I asked, by the way, the movie will be finished shooting before you're eight months pregnant. And it'll fit in perfectly around everything else - you know like press for Hercules and everything," he says, becoming excited again.

"So you really want to do it?" Clary asks reluctantly.

"I think it'd be great - it's going to be shot in so many counties. And it's a bond kind of spy film, and I've never really don't anything like that before. And I think it'll be good to do one final big movie before we have three kids and everything just becomes more complicated," Jace says, speaking quite quickly.

"Right," Clary says again, trying to process everything.

"They said they'd call tonight to let me know if I've got the role or not," Jace says.

"Sounds like you've pretty much decided to do it," Clary says, leaning back onto the counter top.

"Well… yeah. It feels like the right movie for right now," Jace says.

"Jace?" Clary says, looking straight into her husband's eyes, "if I asked not to film a movie, would you do it?"

"I mean… I'm sure you'd have a good reason. So yeah, probably," Jace says slowly. "Why? Are you asking me not to do this movie?"

"No," Clary says slowly, hoping he'll pick up all the signals she's sending, "I'm not _asking_ you not to do it."

"Okay," Jace says, grabbing a snack out of the fridge. "I'll help you put the twins down for their nap in a minute."

Clary rolls her eyes at him. There was still a chance he wasn't going to get the role, or that he'd figure out what she was trying to tell him before he accepted. "Thanks."

They were in the middle of dinner when Jace's phone rang. He sprung up and quickly hurried outside to take the calling, leaving Clary inside, stabbing her salad with her fork.

"Thank you, thank you," Jace is saying as he walks back inside. The moment he hangs up the phone he throws it onto the couch and jumps, and then rushes over to Clary and kisses her. "I got the role."

"And you're going to accept it?" Clary asks.

"Yeah," Jace says, clearly confused at her lack of excitement, "I just did."

"Wow," Clary breaths out. She picks up her bowl and empties it into the bin, roughly places it in the sink and then goes into their bathroom, locks the door and starts running a bath.

_How could he not see how much she didn't want him to do this?_ she thought to herself. _He was really just going to leave his two kids and pregnant wife alone for months while he filmed a movie - a movie he didn't _need _to do_.

She went to bed without another word to Jace, and when he tried to get closer to her in bed that night, she quickly turned to face the wall, and moved as far away from him as possible.

"So the plan," he tells her the next morning, "is to train here - they're going to send a trainer and dietitian and everything over. I've got two months to prepare for the role before I leave for Canada. Then we film in Canada for about a month, and then in about… five other countries for the next two months."

"So you'll be finished in five months?" Clary asks.

"Yeah," Jace answers.

"So you'll finish _after _I'm eight months pregnant?" Clary says.

"What?" Jace asks.

"I was three months pregnant two days ago… so unless this two month preparation started like a week ago, you'll be finished after I'm eight months pregnant," Clary says.

"Okay… so maybe by a few days… but it won't be an issue," Jace says, completely ignoring the fact that he missed the three month date. The only reason Clary hadn't bought it up was that she didn't want to take attention away from Alec, Magnus and Raphael. And she was hoping he would release on his own…

"I'd given birth to the twins by that stage," Clary reminds him.

"Yeah but… twins are always born early… and you had really rare complications - it won't happen again," Jace says, reassuring Clary.

"So long as you're comfortable with possibly missing the birth of your baby," Clary says, abruptly standing. She didn't care if she was being a bitch. She didn't want him doing this movie, but she needed him to realise that on his own.

"Clary!" Jace says, standing as well, sounding shocked.

"It's the truth," Clary says, clearing their plate. "But I guess it's your choice…"

In Clary's mind, Jace made the wrong choice. In Jace's mind, he was doing exactly what a husband and father should do. For the next two months Jace would train for most of the day while Clary would write. He was on a strict diet of lean meats and vegetables, while Clary would eat anything and everything she craved. While Jace slowly lost weight and put on muscle, Clary was slowly growing.

It's not until a week before he's meant to be leaving for Canada that he realises he may have made a mistake accepting the role. Clary was becoming slower, and the twins were becoming faster. Maybe he shouldn't be leaving at all, but staying home to help Clary and take care of the twins.

He calls Izzy to make sure he isn't making the wrong decision.

"Jace it's too late to pull out," Izzy tells him.

"I know it wouldn't be good to pull out now, but I'm more interested in Clary at the moment that the movie," Jace tells her.

"She'll be fine Jace. She's a big girl and Simon and I will be here to help anyway," Izzy tells him.

"Yeah, but you're due pretty soon," he says, "so who'll be able to help when you've had your baby. And Raph is still so young. Everyone's got their hands full. I really think I should stay and help Clary."

"Jace, she's going to be okay. I promise Simon and I will be able to help - and Raph will be much older by the time Clary has her baby. We're a family. We're here to help each other," Izzy says.

"But-"

"No, Jace. Just accept it. It's too late to pull out, and Clary will be more than okay without you home. I promise to call if anything happens, and I'll get you on the first flight back to L.A.," Izzy says. It's true that she maybe wouldn't have put Jace up for the role if she'd known Clary was pregnant, but they'd come too far to pull out now.

"Yeah, okay," Jace says taking a deep breath, "but you have to promise-"

"Of course I promise," Izzy says.

It had definitely helped settle Jace's nerves. Clary had been acting strangely towards him ever since he mentioned going to the audition, but that was around the three month mark of her pregnancy, so maybe it was just the hormones.

Her behaviour, and his doubts, didn't stop him from leaving a week later.

"I'll be coming home every weekend," Jace promises Clary at the airport. "And I promise that filming will be done by the time you have out next baby."

"I'll see you next weekend," Clary says, holding his hand through the window.

"I love you," he tells her, kissing her hand.

"I love you too," she replies, and then watches him walk away, silently begging for him to come back.

Jace is true to his word for the first month, and comes home each weekend to be with the kids and help Clary with everything. But they quickly start falling behind schedule, so he can't come back for the weekends, because they have to start making up for lost time. He then starts filming all over the world, so it's not actually possible for him to come home each weekend anyway.

It meant that he missed Izzy having her baby. She was a gorgeous little girl with little wisps of black hair, deep brown eyes and pale skin. Simon and Izzy asked Alec and Clary to be the Godparents, which they happily accepted.

Thankfully, everyone having their own children didn't make them too busy to see each other. If anything, it now made more sense than ever for them to all be together. They would spend each day at someone's house, usually Clary's, so that they could all look after the babies together. Clary wasn't sure if Jace had asked them to do this, or if they all just saw she was struggling, but she was grateful for the help either way.

* * *

Hello, I hope you enjoyed that chapter! Now for my question... when the kids get older they are going to start playing an important role in the story... but I just couldn't decide on a name for Simon and Izzy's kid. At the moment I'm deciding between Phoebe and Elizabeth, so let me know if you like either of those, or have your own suggestion! Please let me know, because I really can't decide! Anyway, I'll see you on Friday with a new chapter. Hope you're all happy and healthy until then :)


	28. Chapter 28: Old Friends

**Chapter 28: Old Friends.**

I've gotten so many reviews, follows and favourites on the last few chapters to thank you very much! For the next month or so I'll be uploading twice a week - pretty much until my university starts again. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

If Clary had figured anything out in Jace's absence, it was that it was extremely difficult to raise two babies while you were becoming increasingly pregnant. Clary was now in her seventh month of pregnancy, and was also solely taking care of two ten month old babies.

Sure, all of her friends would come over almost everyday to help her, and she was so grateful, but they weren't there during the night when the babies would still cry sometimes. And they weren't there in the morning when the twins would crawl all over the house instead of having breakfast or changing their diapers or getting changed. And they weren't there at night when the twins would scream out in pain because their teeth were coming through.

And Clary was exhausted. There was no other work for it. In the beginning she had been optimistic. Only Ella had been crawling, and Jace would come home each weekend and clean the house and make sure everything was ready for the next week, but he quickly stopped coming home, and the twins quickly began growing up. And it didn't help that she couldn't drink coffee.

"Your daddy," Clary tells Ella one morning, "is a good man. But sometimes I wish he didn't love his job so much. Because then he could be at home with us. Daddy's in Spain right now-"

"Dada," Ella cuts in.

"Oh my God! Ella you just said Dada! You can speak. This is amazing… and Jace missed it. Daddy didn't get to hear you talk, baby," Clary says, becoming disappointed.

"Dada," Ella says again, and then giggles.

"You're so clever… let mommy go get her phone, and we can call daddy and tell him!" Clary says, hurrying away to get her phone.

When she comes back, Ella and Teddy are babbling away to each other the same way they had been for a few weeks.

"Yeah, hey Clary is everything okay?" Jace asks quickly after answering the phone.

"Everything is more than okay!" Clary says, momentarily forgetting all of her exhaustion and stress. "Ella said Dada!"

"Are you serious?" Jace says. "Did you get a video? Can you send it?"

"I didn't get a video," Clary says, "they were just eating breakfast… it's not something I really film, but here-" she puts the phone on speaker. "Hey Ella, say Dada!"

Ella laughs, but just continues to babble away to Teddy.

"Hey Ella!" Jace says through the phone, and both the twins look at it, smiling, "can you say Dada for me?"

Ella laughs again, and knocks her bowl of fruit off the tray in front of her, and both babies laugh.

"Great," Clary mutters, putting the phone down to start cleaning up the mess.

"Okay well…" Jace says through the phone, sounding annoyed "just try and film it next time. I gotta go."

"Are you seriously annoyed at me for not recording it?" Clary asks, slowly standing up and taking the phone off speaker.

"It's not very hard, Clary," Jace says.

"Sorry I don't walk around with a camera strapped to my chest!" Clary says.

"Obviously that's not what I'm asking." Someone says something in the background. "Look, I've got to go. Just… whatever. Bye Clary." And then he hangs up.

Clary throws her phone onto the kitchen bench. "Dada!" Ella says again.

Clary laughs a little, "He's not here, Ellie. Dada's not here…"

A few days later, while giving Ella and Teddy a bath, Teddy says his first words.

"Mama!" he yells out.

"My little Teddy-Bear!" Clary cries out, "you're so clever!"

Clary quickly picks up her phone this time and starts recording, and thankfully, manages to record the next few times he says it.

Clary calls Jace again, but he doesn't pick up. She assumes he must be filming or something, so she dries the twins, gets them into their pyjamas and asleep before trying to call him again. But he still doesn't pick up.

Annoyed, Clary sends the video without a message, and starts preparing her dinner, which she eats alone and in silence.

Clary wakes up very early the next morning to her phone ringing. She rubs her eyes, and sees that it's Jace calling. She reluctantly picks up the phone.

"Hey," he says softly.

"Jace. It's four in the morning," Clary says, holding down a yawn.

"Oh shit. Sorry. Hey, go back to sleep. I'll call later tonight." Jace says.

"There's no point now," Clary says, pulling on her slippers and a sweater. "The twins'll be up in an hour anyway. What do you want?"

Clary picks up the baby monitor and quietly and slowly walks down the stairs and out onto the back deck.

"I was just calling… we didn't get to talk yesterday. And you sent that video of Teddy talking for the first time. Sorry I missed your calls," Jace says. Clary wants to forgive him, but then she hears talking in the background, and Jace says "Hey Clary, can you hold on for a minute."

When he tells her he's back she quickly says, "it wasn't his first time talking. It was just the first time I got to record it."

"Oh," Jace says. "Well thanks for trying, I guess."

"Yeah," Clary says. What were they doing here. She was absolutely exhausted. And she was scared - she had given birth to the twins by seven months last time. She could go into labour any day, and he would completely miss it.

Some combination of the exhaustion, stress and fear, mixed with her hormones makes her start crying, and now that she's started, she can't stop.

"Clary? What's happened? Are you okay? Is everyone okay?" Jace asks, sounding worried.

"I can't… do this… anymore," she says between cries. "I… need you."

"You can't do what?" Jace asks, sounding a little less concerned.

"All of it. I can't raise two babies alone and be pregnant. I can't get blamed for you missing things. I'm scared of having to do this all alone - I've always been scared of that. And now you're not here… and I'm alone," Clary says.

"Clary you're not alone… Izzy and Alec and Magnus and-"

"They're not you!" Clary practically yells. "My kids need their father." _And I need my husband, _she thinks to herself.

"So they're _your _kids now?" Jace asks, raising his own voice.

"That's what it feels like!" Clary says back. She'd stopped crying now.

"Clary, I'm doing this for them!" he yells back. "How can you not understand that?"

"Because it's not true!" Clary says, outraged. "You're doing this movie for yourself, and yourself only! If you really cared about the twins, you'd be here. Taking care of them." _And me._

"Don't you dare tell me I don't care about my kids," Jace yells back.

"Well, if you do care about them, you have a funny way of showing it!" Clary says, "I've had to give up practically everything that isn't the twins because I just don't have the time or capabilities. I don't remember the last time I left the house that wasn't for a doctor's appointment! I don't remember the last haircut I got, or the last time I got my nails done, or went to a cafe."

"Because all of those things are so important!" Jace says, laughing.

"Yeah Jace, they are. I'm seven months pregnant. I hate the way I look. And those things help a little bit. So sorry for wanting to feel good about myself, even just for a little bit," Clary says, finally snapping.

"Clary-"

"No, and you don't even get to say something like that," she tells him. "Because you don't know what it's been like. You haven't had to deal with two crawling and teething twins alone. And you've never experienced being pregnant. So don't stand here all high and mighty while you're off doing what you love at exotic locations. And that's not me saying I don't like raising our kids - I do. But I'm just so goddamn tired Jace. And I don't know how much longer I can do this alone."

"Well I can't just come home because you call!" Jace says.

"Well I just wish you never left!" Clary yells back.

"Well you should have fucking told be before I left," Jace replies.

"I told you in all the ways I could," Clary says, becoming more exasperated.

"Really?" Jace says, "because you didn't fucking just tell me not to. You could've said 'Jace, don't do this movie,' and I would have said okay. I even told you I wouldn't do a movie if you asked!"

"That was me asking!" Clary says, slowly sitting down on the deck. "You stupid man?"

"You should have just outright said it, Clary, because it's too late now!" Jace says.

"I couldn't just tell you," Clary says.

"And why the fuck not?" Jace says.

Clary looks out at the waves and sunrise for a moment. "Because you would resent me for it. And I didn't want you to resent me. But now I'm starting to think it may have been better than this."

"I wouldn't resent you, Clary," Jace says, sounding slightly surprised. "I could never…"

"But you would," Clary says. "You would see the premier and how well it was doing at the box office and think to yourself 'that could've been me, but Clary said no.' And then I would be the villain, and I just don't need that. But apparently, I'm the villain anyway, because I can't do anything right in your eyes. So maybe it would've been better for you to hate me and be here, than hate me and be over there."

"Clary, I don't hate you. I could never hate you," Jace says sadly. He had no idea she was thinking all of these things.

"Then come home," Clary begs. She hears one of the babies start crying on the baby monitor, but leaves it for a moment, desperate for Jace's reply.

"Clary… I can't. You know I can't do that," Jace says.

"Fine," Clary says, struggling to stand back up. "One of _my_ kids is crying, so I've got to go. Have fun Jace." And she hangs up the phone before he can reply.

She knew she should've given him a chance to reply, but she was so angry at him that she didn't care. How could he not tell that she wanted him to stay in the first place, and now she needed him.

She goes up to the twin's room and starts another long, and lonely day.

Clary's due date was in exactly four weeks, and she still had no idea when Jace was coming home. He was meant to finish filming in two days, but he had gone on about some bullshit about being behind schedule, and that he wasn't going to come home for at least another week, maybe longer.

She had already given birth months ago with the twins but will all the added stress she wasn't sure that this pregnancy wouldn't end early as well. And if it did, Jace would miss it. And Clary would never forgive him.

She had already gotten Kit to come over and help move the twins into their new rooms so that the nursery would be ready for the new baby. And she'd dragged him along to buy some new things for the baby while she left the twins at home with Diana.

She also had plans in place about what to do if Jace wasn't home when she went into labour. She was going to call Magnus and Alec, who would both come over with Raph. Magnus was going to stay home with all the kids while Alec took her to the hospital. If it was at night, Magnus was going to wait until the next morning to call Izzy, Simon and Kit over to help him look after all the kids, otherwise. And Alec was going to stay with her at the hospital so she didn't have to be alone. She had done it before, but she was still scared about everything that could go wrong, and was really glad when Alec said he'd stay with her.

She wakes up the next morning and stares at the ceiling for a little while until she hears cries come from Teddy's room. She slowly gets up, ready to start the day, when the cries stop. She turns on the baby monitor, and can hear a soft shushing coming from the room. With her heart racing, she quickly picks up her phone, and gets out of bed as fast as she can. She grabs Jace's baseball bat which she slept with next to her bed, and moves down the hallway as quietly as she could.

Holding the baseball bat in front of her, ready to swing, she opens the door. She drops the bat.

"That's a warm welcome," Luke says, smiling at her, and then the bat, and then Teddy in his arms. "Good to know that mommy will protect you."

"Luke?" Clary says, feeling relief wash over her body.

"I would've told you but everything happened so quickly. And I was hoping you'd be able to sleep in this morning - I just let myself in. I hope that's okay?" Luke says, still softly bouncing with Teddy in his arms.

"It's more than okay! Thank you, so much," Clary says. She hears Ella babbling in the room next door, so she waddles off to go get her.

"Do you want some breakfast?" Clary asks when she comes back to Teddy's room with Ella in her arms.

"We can get some breakfast for these two first," he says, following Clary outside and down to the kitchen.

"Not that I'm not ecstatic to see you, but why are you here?" Clary asks.

"Magnus called. He said you were struggling, and I knew you could use some help," Luke says kindly.

"But what about the shop?" Clary asks, putting Ella into her highchair. "You can't be away for too long."

"Maia's got it all under control. I'm staying until Jace get's back whether you want me to or not."

"Well thank you, I do really appreciate it."

Luke being there made a world of difference. Clary was no longer doing everything alone. And she no longer had to rely on all of her friends so heavily. Luke would be able to take Clary to the hospital and stay with her, which made everything else so much easier.

When Jace still hadn't come home a week later, Clary had pretty much convinced herself that she was going to have to do it all without him. That's why Clary is so shocked when she sees him sitting in the kitchen, feeding Teddy in the morning.

When she walks into the kitchen, he turns and smiles at her. "Hey, Clary."

"What are you…" she asks, not really sure what to actually ask.

"I didn't want to wake you up," Jace says, "but I'm glad you're here. They don't seem to want to have their milk."

Clary looks at Teddy, who was pushing the bottle away, and then over at Ella, who Jace had clearly already given up on. The bottle was sitting on the tray on her high table, untouched.

"That's because they usually have fruit and yogurt for breakfast. I only really give them milk if they're still hungry after a meal," she says. Why did she have to explain this to him?

"Oh, right. Okay. Umm, well I can help you get that ready?" Jace says.

"It's pretty much already done," Clary says, walking to the fridge and taking out the container of pre-cut up fruit. She empties a little bit into two bowls, and then adds a dollop of yogurt on top. "But if you wanted to feed Teddy, that'd be great."

Jace nods and takes the bowl from her, and then, cautious not to mess up again, he watches Clary feed Ella for a little while. But then Teddy starts crying and Clary looks over at Jace annoyed. "Are you just going to stand there?"

"Sorry," he says, and slowly starts to feed Teddy. Clary looks over every few moments, but doesn't say anything.

"Well Luke should be down shortly, so-" Clary starts saying.

"Luke's here?" Jace asks. Why would Luke be here - they hadn't talked about that.

"He's been here for a couple days. He's been helping me out…" Clary says, softly resting her hands on her stomach. It's only then that Jace notices just how big she's actually gotten. He knew her due date was soon, but it just didn't occur to him that she would have gotten so much bigger in the time he was gone.

"You look…" Jace says not wanting to say bigger, but not knowing what else to say.

She looks down at her stomach, "you've been gone a while Jace," she says. Her voice sounds weird, and when Jace looks back up at her face, he sees that she's trying not to cry.

"Shit, no - you don't look bad. The opposite! You look amazing," he says quickly.

"Thanks," Clary says drily. "Anyway, Luke will be down any moment to help me clean up the twins. You can go have a shower or whatever."

"I can help you," Jace says, eager to be of some use.

"Right," Clary says, "I suppose you need to learn, anyway."

"Learn?" Jace says, "what've I got to learn? I've given them plenty of baths."

"Like I said Jace, you've been gone a long time. A lot's changed," she says.

"Not that much could have changed," Jace says.

"Okay," Clary says. "If you were giving the twins a bath, who would you put in first?"

Jace is about to reply that it doesn't matter, but quickly judges by Clary's face that it in fact does. "Ella?" he answers.

"Put Ella in first and she'll scream bloody murder for Teddy, which makes him upset and he won't want to get into the bath and Ella will want to get out," Clary quickly says.

"Okay, so I'll put Teddy in first," Jace says like it's no big deal.

"And who do you dress first?" she asks.

"Teddy," Jace says, assuming that it's the same answer.

"You have to dress them at the same time, otherwise they try to get away," Clary says.

"How do you even…" Jace begins asking, but then Luke walks into the room.

"Jace?" he asks.

"It's my house!" Jace says, annoyed. "Am I not allowed to be in my own house, feeding my own children?"

"You are," Luke says, "but last I heard you were in Spain, so forgive my surprise." He clearly wasn't too happy with him for leaving Clary.

"Sorry," Jace says. "There's just a lot happening."

Clary laughs at this statement, and then picks up Teddy, and Luke picks up Ella and follows Clary to the bathroom.

Jace practically follows Clary around all morning, learning how to look after his children.

"Since when have they been in different rooms?" Jace asks as Clary puts Teddy in one room and Luke takes Ella into another one.

"Since Kit helped me move them. I needed to get the nursery ready for the new baby," Clary says. "Now can you go wait outside or something? I need to get them down for their naps."

Another thing Jace learnt is that they now also had new Lullabies. Teddy's was Beautiful Boy by John Lennon and Ella's was Isn't She Lovely by Stevie Wonder.

"I'm just gonna go for a walk on the beach for a while," Luke says, eyeing Clary. She nods and once he's gone, Clary sits down on the couch.

"They've gotten so big!" Jace says, sitting down on the couch, but a little distance from Clary.

"That happens," Clary says.

"Look, I know I've been gone a while, but there's no reason to treat me like I don't know my own children," Jace says, trying, and failing, to not raise his voice.

Instead of arguing, Clary asks, "What's Ella's favourite food?"

When Jace left, she was still only drinking milk. He knew she ate food for breakfast… "Apple."

"And Teddy's?" she asks.

"Pear?" Jace guesses.

"Ella's is cucumber and Teddy's is sweet potato," Clary tells him. "What's their favourite show?"

"Mickey Mouse?" Jace says, beginning to realise how much he doesn't know.

"It's a show called Storybots Super Songs. They like the music," she says. "Who crawled first? How spoke first? How had the first tooth come through? Which one of them got the cold first? Who blew bubbles in the bath first?"

"Umm… Ella spoke first," is all Jace is able to answer. He didn't even know they had gotten colds.

"That's all you can answer?" Clary asks.

"That's not fair Clary," Jace says.

"No, you know what's not fair? Leaving me here, alone," she says. When Jace doesn't say anything back, she says, "but at least you're here now. At least you're home now."

"I have to go back in two days…" Jace says. It was only for another week of filming, but the movie hadn't finished filming yet.

"What?" Clary asks.

"I can't just not go back, Clary. I'm the main character!" Jace says.

"I never wanted you to do this stupid movie!" Clary yells at him.

"Well, you should have told me!" Jace yells back.

"I shouldn't have had to," Clary tells him. "You should've known that I would need you. You shouldn't have wanted to leave your children."

"Well I can't deal with this right now, Clary," Jace says, walking out of the room.

"That right, leave!" Clary yells after him. "Leave like everyone always does," she says to herself.

* * *

So... everything isn't going too well for Clary and Jace at the moment! Let me know what you think is going to happen next! I hope everyone is happy and healthy, and Ill see you at the next chapter :)


	29. Chapter 29: Welcome To The Family!

**Chapter 29: Welcome To The Family!**

Hello everyone! Welcome back to another chapter. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

"I'm just so angry with him," Clary tells Simon, "and he doesn't seem to care."

Simon had come over with Phoebe to give Izzy some time off, and he'd asked why Jace seemed to be staying away. "And I don't know what to say to him to make him see my perspective."

"Which is?" Simon asks.

"That he left me pregnant with our two babies so he could go film a movie," Clary says, and she can see the look on Simon's face, so she quickly adds, "and I know that he says he's doing it for us… but I just don't understand how he thinks that it's more important to film a movie than actually be with his family."

"Have you asked him?" Simon asks, calmly.

"Of course - and he says that he doesn't understand how _I _don't understand. We just keep going 'round in circles and never actually figuring anything out," Clary says, frustrated.

"I can see both of your perspectives," Simon says, and after Clary punches him on the arm adds, "of course, I'm always on your side. But Jace has been working for a long time - way longer than either of us. And from what Izzy and you have told me… his dad was always pretty harsh on him, and pretty much forced him to work. And then when he moved out he had to keep working to support himself."

"Okay," Clary says, reluctantly, "you might have a point."

"But I get that he's left you with a lot, and it's not fair that he did that," Simon adds, "I don't want to get involved in your marriage… but I think you you two just sat down and actually discussed everything, you might be able to see it from each others perspectives and understand. It might help you not be so angry at each other."

"It scares me that you've gotten this wise," Clary says.

"If it helps you," Simon says, smiling, "I fell asleep on the toilet last night reading a Manga. Izzy had to wake me up."

"You know," Clary says, "that does help. Thank you."

"What would you do without me?" Simon says, standing. He holds out his hands to help Clary stand.

"I don't want to think about it," Clary says.

Later that night, after Clary and Jace had put the kids to bed, and Luke had gone out for a walk, Clary sits down with Jace.

"We need to talk," Clary says.

"If we're just going to argue, then I'd rather go to bed. I've got an early flight tomorrow, and stupid long hours all week."

"Can you for once, not prioritise work?" Clary says, annoyed.

Jace throws his arms in the air, as if saying, 'see, all we do is fight.'

"I'm sorry," Clary says, "but we really need to talk."

"Fine," Jace says, "what about."

"About us," Clary says. "This isn't working right now Jace."

He looks alarmed, but stays silent.

"Simon helped me see things from your perspective… and I understand why you're doing the movie. But you need to understand how hard this has been for me. And that I've given up work as well. And I'm trying my hardest, but I need help," Clary says.

"I get that… and I thought I was helping… I thought I was doing the right thing by taking this job. I was supporting my family," Jace says.

"I get that. And I know your dad used to burn through your cash so quickly that you constantly had to work. But we're not in that position anymore. We have investments, and a really big savings account. And we own our house and cars. Nothing's going to happen to all of that."

"I just… I had to support my mom. I didn't want her to have to go without because I didn't want to take a job," Jace says.

"Trust me, I understand what it's like," Clary says. And he nods. Because she did understand - Jace may have been working longer, but they were in exactly the same position at one point in time. "But it's not like that anymore."

"I'm sorry," Jace says, "I know I've missed a lot. And I've left you with a lot. But I still have to go tomorrow… I can't can't pull out now - it's way too late."

"I know," Clary says, and though she didn't want him to leave, she knew there was no way around it. "But in the future, I think we need to make more decisions together. And not just about your job. Both of ours."

"I think that's a good plan," Jace says, leaning forward to kiss Clary. As Clary leans forward to meet him, she feels a sharp pain in her back.

Jace notices her grimace, and quickly asks, "Clary, what's wrong?"

"It's just my back," she says, massaging the spot that hurt, "I've been getting cramps for the past few days - Doctor Jeremiah said it was normal."

"Are you like, going to go into labour?" Jace asks, not really sure how to approach the situation.

"Hopefully one day, yeah. But I don't think it'll be soon," Clary says. "My due date isn't for another two weeks."

"But it could be in the next week?" Jace asks, becoming more stressed.

"I mean… yeah," Clary says, refraining from adding, 'that's why I've been so annoyed.'

"So I could… miss it?" Jace asks.

"I thought you would come home if I went into labour," Clary says, and winces at another cramp in her back.

"Yeah, but you had the twins in like, 2 hours - I'm not going to be able to get home that quickly," Jace says.

Clary is trying to listen to him, but she was having another cramp - this one wasn't in her back, and it was a lot worse than any other the others had been. She couldn't be in labour now… could she? She takes a few deep breaths and the pain ebbs away.

She tells Jace to calm down, and that she's going to go have a shower. She gets the same pain in her stomach while in the shower, and another one a short while after she gets out. After a few quick google searches, she goes up to Jace, who was still sitting on the couch.

"Jace," she says calmly. "I don't want to freak you out. But I think I'm in labour."

Jace jumps up and rushes over to her, "are you sure? Did your water break? We need to go to the hospital!"

"I'm not 100 percent sure," Clary answers, "and no, my water didn't break, but it doesn't have to. And we're not going to the hospital yet - not until my contractions are closer together. I think we should just call Doctor Jeremiah and see what he has to say."

After calling their doctor, and waiting a few more hours, Clary decides that the contractions are close enough together that she can go to the hospital. Luke stays home with Ella and Teddy while Jace drives.

Clary was much calmer than Jace. She'd done this before - and this time everything seemed to be much more normal. Jace, however, did not seem to agree.

He rushed her into the hospital at around ten o'clock, and by three o'clock the next morning, Clary had given birth to a little boy. He had the same golden skin, eyes and hair as Jace. As far as Clary could see, he was going to grow up to be a perfect carbon copy of his father.

Jace delayed his flight indefinitely, so the next morning he didn't have to rush around. He was sitting on the end of Clary's bed after she had woken up, and asks, "I know we didn't get a chance to talk about names. Honestly I haven't really been thinking about it."

"Well, you know how we chose Ella and Teddy's names from our family trees?" Clary asks, "I was thinking we could do the same thing again. So I've been looking and I really liked James and Thomas."

Jace smiles as she says the names, and then repeats, "James Thomas Herondale."

"I think it's nice - but only if you like it too," Clary says.

"I love it. Ella, Theodore and James," Jace lists of, smiling.

"Ella, Teddy and Jamie," Clary repeats. I think it's nice."

Jace kisses Clary on the forehead.

"And I was also thinking," Clary says as Jace sits back down, "that we could make Luke the Godfather? He's just been so helpful, and I couldn't imagine him not being a part of our children's lives."

"I think that's a great idea. Any ideas for Godmother?" Jace asks.

They talk about it for a little while, but end up leaving the position blank. If Luke ever decided to get married, then that person could fill the role.

Clary stays in hospital for a few more nights with Jamie, while Jace goes home to help Luke take care of Ella and Teddy.

When Clary came home, however, he really had to leave. The movie had been put on hold while he stayed home, and it was beginning to cost a lot. He was going to be gone for a week, and in that time Luke was going to stay at L.A. to help Clary take care of the three babies.

To say it was harder was an understatement. While the twins didn't like receiving less attention than the other, it seemed to especially annoy them Clary would spend time with Jamie. It didn't matter what Luke did, they would scream for Clary. This made it a lot harder for Clary to take care of everyone at meal times, because the twins refused to eat unless it was Clary feeding them, and it only Clary could feed Jamie.

Despite being a really easy baby, Jamie still woke up during the night, and seemed to calm down much faster when it was Clary who went to sooth him. She had decided that his lullaby would be Sweet Baby James, by James Taylor, and he fell asleep very quickly when she began singing it, especially, she found out, when she played the guitar as well.

It was a relief when Jace finally came home. Thankfully, he was only gone for a week. The twins didn't mind when Jace fed them, which made breakfast a lot easier. And they seemed to fuss the least when Jace bathed them and got them dressed. In the end, Jace did most things for the twins, and Clary for James.

Clary had been writing one night when she decided she wanted to have a bath. After a little while, she comes back to the music room to see Jace sitting on the piano chair, holding her song book.

"When did you write this?" he asks as she walks into the room.

"Why are you going through my book?" Clary asks instead of answering. She didn't know what song he was looking at, and she didn't really want to.

"I was curious. When did you write this?" he asks again.

She slowly looks down at the book and sees the title 'My Love, My Life' written out. Unable to say anything she just looks up at him.

"Is this… were you going to… are you going to leave?" he asks, clearly in some state of shock.

Clary quickly shakes her head and sits next to him on the seat. He slowly stands up, and paces the room. "Did you want me to leave?" he asks.

Clary can't answer.

"I guess that says everything," Jace says, putting the book down on the piano.

"I don't know Jace," Clary says sadly. "It felt like you didn't want to be here. And that you didn't care about our kids. And I wasn't going to make them have a dad that didn't care about them. I never stopped loving you."

"I love all of our children Clary… and I care about them, and you, so much," Jace says desperately.

"I know that now," Clary says kindly, "but Jace you have to understand how it felt. You always missed my calls, and never really asked about the twins or how the pregnancy was going... "

"I missed them so much that I thought it would be easier to just put them out of mind. And I was so scared that something would go wrong that it was just easier to not ask any questions. And I only missed your calls when I was working."

"Okay," Clary says, "we didn't handle it very well. But you're here now, and I completely forgot that I wrote that song. And I'm so sorry."

Despite accepting her apology and saying that he was okay, Clary noticed a distinct shift in his behaviour in the following days. It wasn't towards her at all - he continued to be as loving and caring as he usually was. It was towards the kids - and the twins specifically. He was so much more caring and involved than he'd been before. He was singing them lullaby's. He would prepare their food, feed them and clean up without asking Clary any questions.

Clary found a bunch of tabs on his computer about all the best things for babies, and how to care for them. He would take them for walks and talk to them so softly.

She knew that he said he was okay, but he was clearly trying to show her that he did care about his kids. That he was more than capable of looking after them. He was trying to show her that all of her doubts had been miss guided. It was nice to finally have her husband back.

* * *

Song mentions:

Sweet Baby James by James Taylor  
My Love, My Life by ABBA

I hope you all enjoyed that chapter! If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please feel free to let me know! Hope you're all happy and safe :)


	30. Chapter 30: Life Goes On

**Chapter 30: Life Goes On**

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another chapter! Another massive thank you to everyone who has been reviewing this story. Let me know of anything you want to see in the story, and I'd be more than happy to work it in! Hope you enjoy...

* * *

Jace had kept his promise for the new few months. He worked hard everyday to make sure he was doing just as much, if not more than Clary for the kids. He didn't even think about work, and vowed to himself that the moment he did start thinking about work again, he'd tell Clary straight away and get her real opinion on everything.

Maybe it was because they were back in sync, or maybe Jamie was just an easier baby and they had gotten so used to the twins, but they really seemed to have everything under control. Luke had left a few days after Jace came home, but only after Clary had promised she was okay, and Jace had promised he was going to try harder.

Raphael and Phoebe would come over regularly to have play dates. Everyone noticed, except maybe Jace who had a special sweet spot for the twins, that the two oldest children seemed to stick to themselves. They would rarely interact with Jamie even when it was just the three of them, but they would try to get away when the other kids came over. Clary had noticed that Ella in particular seemed to want to avoid others, and that Teddy seemed easily persuaded.

She knew that the twins might grow out of it - Jace told her she was just exaggerating the situation. But Clary couldn't help but feel that Jamie may end up being a very lonely child, and that was something she definitely didn't want. It was for this reason, and that she loved her children very much, that she told Jace she wanted to have one more. He'd agreed straight away - slough suggested that maybe they wait a little while. He almost seemed eager to prove himself.

The first piece of work that Jace had to attend was the press tour for Hercules. Because Jace was the main character, and they had their young kids at home, they'd negotiated that Jace would do all of the travelling press, and that Clary would only participate in L.A.

This meant the bulk of interviews were being done in L.A., and that Jace primarily had to travel for premiers. He was going to be away for a week, in which he would attend premieres in London, Athens, New York and then finally in L.A.

They had their last day of interviews in L.A. before Jace was leaving, and Clary and Jace were sitting in the room they'd spent the last two weeks in waiting for the next interviewers to arrive.

"You know," Clary says, "I was thinking about last time we were in this situation."

"Oh yeah," Jace says, grinning.

"We weren't even dating yet," Clary says.

"Uhh," Jace says dramatically, "yes we were."

"Not for most of it," Clary says, "and even when we were it was this massive secret. It's just been so different - last time the questions were about our separate lives and what we were going to do in the future. Now they're about our marriage and congratulating us on our kids and just… crazy stuff."

"Yeah well," Jace says, standing as the new interviewer comes into the room, "a lot can happen in a few years."

It was lucky, Clary thought, that everyone in her band was so good with kids. Jace was currently away on the press tour, but when he got back Clary was going to start recording her next album. They had a couple weeks to record it, but Clary still wanted to be as prepared as possible when the time came. And for her, that meant bringing her kids into the office while they all got ready.

Clary knew that she could call on Diana if she needed the help, but she found that she didn't need to while everyone else was around. They were always patient if Clary had to handle something. Emma and Julian were so in love with James that she barely had to look after him, and Teddy and Ella were easily able to entertain themselves in the playroom that her and Jace had set up.

It meant that, a week later when Clary was recording and Jace had begun writing a new movie, it was very easy for the whole family to spend the working day at the office. About a week into recording Magnus came in to see their progress and begin working out a schedule with them all.

It was important for Clary to have options for Jace and the kids to travel with them, and for the schedule to be well spaced out so she had time to spend with them all. She decided this also had to apply for Jem, Tessa, and Mina, and Jem was clearly appreciative of it. She also told Magnus that she would do press in the lead up to the tour, but that she didn't want to do any during the actual tour. This meant no meet and greets or open sound checks as well; she wanted the time spent off stage to be with her family.

Jace agreed to this plan - he thought a bit of travelling could do them all good, and he would still be able to write on the road whenever it was convenient for him. And Clary could tell he meant it. It was the first time they seemed able to make a big decision about either of their work without getting into a massive fight or lying to each other, and Clary knew that last time had been a real wake up call for them both.

Jem agreed that the schedule looked very family friendly, and Tessa was keen to be able to travel to lots of places she hadn't been before. Emma and Jules were easy - they were happy if they were with each other, and they didn't have any real commitments they had to work a schedule around. This included, Julian told them all, barely able to contain his excitement, any boyfriends, as Emma had recently broken up with Cameron Ashdown. Clary was sure she saw Emma blush as he said this, but she quickly picked Jamie up so that he covered her face.

George was very similar to how Kit had always been - everything seemed to be able music and having fun. He was more than happy to leave any responsibilities he might have behind and go and perform music to crowds screaming back at him.

Although, now that Clary thought about it, Kit and Livvy had been dating for well over a year now - Kit's longest relationship by some time. And Jules was happy to report that they seemed very happy together. Kit had told Clary about the threats Julian had made if he ever hurt Livvy. Clary was glad that he hadn't needed to deliver on any of these yet.

With everything sorted out, Clary was confident in realising her first single about a month after they finished recording. It had been a busy month, filled with filming music videos, and doing photo shoots for the album cover and rehearsing for the tour, but their hard work definitely paid off. Her song went straight to number one, as did the single she realised after that.

One of the songs on the album - the last one to be written and almost wasn't included on the album, had a voice memo of Jace speaking French in it. It had been a goal of Clary's to be able to sing and write music in French, and Jace was slowly teaching her. They had been sitting in their backyard, and Clary was softly strumming on her guitar, trying to figure out a nice melody to go with the lyrics Jace had just helped her write, when Jace had said, "you are so beautiful. More beautiful than the birds, the bees and the butterflies. I could stay here all day my love, my Clary," in French. She had ended up including the melody she had written with different lyrics on the album, but the song felt incomplete without Jace talking softly at the end, with Clary's gentle guitar and the waves crashing quietly in the distance. She had ended up calling the song 'Papillons,' and despite not being a single, it still received a lot of attention during the press tour.

The tour lasted six months and was very successful. Every show was sold out, and Jace travelled with her and their kids for pretty much the whole thing. He'd stayed home for the first few weeks while Clary got back into the swing of performing, and as she figured out the logistics of tour with three young children, but once they got into the swing of it, it was easy.

Clary had been overwhelmed by the response of everyone on tour. They were all so supportive, and it was crazy to think that all of those people were there for her - not for Simon or Kit or Alec, like so many people had told her in the past.

Because she was less known in many of the countries they travelled to than she was in America, they were able to have relatively normal days as a family. Especially when they stopped at smaller towns on their way through them - a few people would recognise them, but they could largely spend the whole day unbothered.

Clary wondered if this was what her life could have been like. If she had turned down the record deal, like she told Jon she wanted to do, is this how she would've been able to spend her days? Slowly strolling through towns with her amazing husband and beautiful kids? But no, she told herself. This isn't how life would have been. She wouldn't have been able to afford to travel like this. And she never would have met Jace, and thus couldn't have married him or had their kids. When she thought about it all, it seemed worth it to give up her privacy for everything else.

"You still want one more?" Clary asks Jace on their first night back in L.A. They were laying in bed. Jace had been reading a book, and Clary had been letting her mind wander.

"One more what?" Jace asked, looking away from his book and softly running his fingers through Clary's hair.

"One more kid," Clary explained. Despite being older now, the twins seemed more determined than ever to stay away from James. He was fine when he was playing with Clary or Jace, but she could see how he could quickly become lonely.

Jace looked out their window towards the ocean, before nodding. "Yeah, of course I do. But…"

"What is it?" Clary asks, resting her head on her hands so that she was able to get a batter look at him.

"It's just that… I really like the script that I've been writing - and it's pretty much done. I was thinking maybe that maybe I could make this movie first. Just so I can be completely committed to everything that happens.

Clary smiles at him, "of course," Clary tells him, laying back down with her head on her pillow, "we've got nothing but time." And for the first time that Clary's could remember, she really did have nothing but time.

* * *

I know that one was a bit of a filler chapter... sorry! But I just wanted to pass some time so that the kids can start growing up, because I eventually want to shift the focus of the story onto them (I might do it in a new story?) Let me know what you think, and let me know if there is anything you want to see! I hope you're all happy and healthy, and I'll see you at the next one :)


	31. Chapter 31: It's All About Family

**Chapter 31: It's All About Family**

Hello everyone and welcome back to another chapter! I hope you enjoy this one - I was trying to make it a bit cute and include a few things you guys asked for! Let me know if you want to see anything else!

* * *

"Hey Clary, I've just got to go out and pick something up - I'll be back in a little while," Jace calls out.

"What are you getting?" Clary asks curiously.

"You'll know soon enough," he answers, smiling at her quickly.

"It's not for the twins is it? Because I thought we agreed that we'd bought them enough presents!" Clary calls out, following him to the car. The twins second birthday was in a few days' time, and Jace seemed to want to go all out for the occasion.

"It's not for the twins," Jace says grinning. He quickly kisses her and then goes into the garage, leaving Clary wondering what he's being so secretive about. She knew it would be nothing to do with work - they had both kept their promise and were finally being completely open with each other about their future employment plans. And he'd said it wasn't for the twins. She doubted it was for Jamie - his first birthday had only been a few weeks ago, and apparently on that occasion it was Clary's turn to go overboard.

Clary's left curious, playing with the kids and getting lunch ready until Jace comes home a few hours later. When he walks in from the garage with his back turned to everyone, apparently holding something in his arms.

"What've you got there?" Clary asks, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"It's a present," Jace says.

"Jace! You said you weren't going to get them anything-"

"It's not for the twins. It's for you," Jace says, with his back still to everyone in the kitchen.

"Daddy!" Ella calls out.

"Hey beautiful girl," Jace responds.

"Why'd you get me a present - my birthday isn't for a few more months," Clary asks.

"I know it's a little late, but I was looking for this one specifically, and it took me a little while to find," Jace explains, still facing away from everyone.

"What?" Clary asks, completely confused.

"Well, your last tour was so amazing…" Jace says, finally turning and revealing a tiny kitten in his arms, with a bow tied around its neck, "so I thought I'd get you something to show you how amazing it was."

"Oh my God, Jace!" Clary says, rushing forward to get a better look at the cat. It had a mainly white body, with a light brown tail and ears. It had the most amazing blue eyes, and a black mark down its nose. "Thank you!"

"He's a Munchkin Cat," Jace explains, handing him over to Clary, "it's got tiny little legs just like-" he sees his wife look up at him and says, "our children."

"He's so cute!" Clary says, scratching him between the ears, "thank you!" Clary goes on her tippy toes to kiss Jace, but then Jamie calls out for Clary.

"Look at this bubba," Clary says, walking over to Jamie still holding her new cat. "This is a cat, and his name is… What is his name?" Clary asks Jace.

"That's up to you," Jace says, walking over to the twins and kissing them both on the head.

"Hmmm," Clary says, considering a few options. Suddenly she smiles. "Honky!"

"Honky?" Jace says, with his eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, like Honky Cat. The song by Sir Elton John…" Clary says as if the reason behind the unusual name is obvious.

"Right," Jace says. He desperately wants to veto the name, but it's her cat. "That's a great name…"

"Honk!" Jamie calls out suddenly.

"Yeah," Clary says, happily, "Honky Cat! Good job Jamie!"

Jamie reaches out his pudgy little hand and runs it along the length of the cats body, and then laughs.

"Well I think Jamie's all for it!" Clary says. "What about you two?" Clary asks, walking over to Ella and Teddy. "What do you think about baby Honky cat?"

"Ella's cat!" Ella declares, and reaches out to try and take the cat from Clary.

"Be gentle," Clary says softly, helping her stroke the cat.

"Ella's cat!" she declares again.

"It's mommy's cat," Jace tells her.

Clary takes Honky around to Teddy, who looks a little scared at first, but eventually warms up to the kitten.

Clary finally puts him on the ground, where he starts sniffing around the living room and kitchen.

"I'm just going to go and grab the other stuff from the car," Jace says, and he quickly returns with a little bed, a little box and some toys.

Jamie spends the rest of the afternoon following Honky around. He had started walking months before the twins had - in fact he pretty much skipped crawling and just stood up one day. Despite stumbling every now and then, he was pretty confident now.

"Happy birthday my beautiful babies!" Jace calls down the hallway when he wakes up on the twins birthday.

He quickly collects them each from their rooms, and places them on the ground. They slowly follow him down the stairs, where Clary and Jace had decorated the whole room with balloons, posters and streamers.

Clary collects Jamie and helps him slowly walk down the stairs, while he holds onto a few of her fingers. It startled her in the beginning how much he looked like Jace in the morning, with his messy hair and lazy smile, but she'd grown used to it now.

"Party?" he asks her. The twins and Jace were in the kitchen, where Jace was beginning to cook waffles.

"Yeah bubba," Clary answers him, "It's Ella and Teddy's birthday today. They're two years old." Jamie nods, and looks around at all the decorations. "You can go play bubba," Clary tells him. He waddles over to a balloon, and hits it, but then spots Honky and heads over to the kitten.

Keeping an eye on Jamie, Clary heads into the kitchen to help Jace with breakfast and talk with the twins.

"Ella presents?" Ella asks, eyeing the pile of wrapped presents. They'd had to explain on Jamies' birthday that, while they could help him unwrap the presents, they were for Jamie. She'd clearly been waiting for her turn.

"Yep," Jace answers, "those and your and Teddy's presents. We can open them after breakfast!"

Ella nods excitedly, while Teddy reaches over and takes a strawberry from Clary.

After breakfast and presents, Clary and Jace get all three kids ready for everyone coming over a little bit later for a small party.

As predicted, Magnus and Izzy bring the biggest presents imaginable for their Godchildren. Jace helps them unwrap and set them up, while Clary and Simon watch Phoebe and Jamie playing in the backyard.

"B!" Jamie calls out. He wasn't able to say her full name, so Jamie had taken to just saying 'B', which was spreading through the whole family.

"D'you think they're going to be just like us?" Simon asks suddenly.

"In what way?" Clary asks.

Honky comes up beside Simon, who starts scratching him between the ears. "Y'know… best friends."

"Oh, I think they already are. He already plays with her more than Ella or Teddy," Clary says. At this thought, she turns and looks inside to see both Ella and Teddy playing with Ella's new dollhouse, clearly happy with the level of attention they were receiving from all the adults around them.

Simon must be able to see the slightly sad look in her eyes - she was hoping that the twins would quickly grow out of only wanting to play with each other, but it looked like it was here to stick.

"She's got his back," Simon says. "He'll be okay."

"I don't think he notices it too much yet," Clary says, "but I know when he does it's gonna hit hard."

"Nah, he'll be okay. B will make sure," Simon says. Clary smiles at him, and is reminded of all the times Clary went to Simon when she had problems and vice versa. But she still wanted Jamie to have a friend at home, even if that meant having another kid.

"We better go in for cake," Clary says as she notices the sun start setting.

The twins crashed pretty early that night after the excitement of the day. Jace was downstairs cleaning up after the party, leaving Clary and Jamie alone to get him ready for bed.

"I can't believe how big you're getting!" Clary tells him, lightly shaking his little legs, which he laughs at.

"D'you know," Clary tells him as she changes his diaper, "that you and B are just like me and uncle Simon! I think you two are going to be best friends for a very long time."

Jamie babbles something back that Clary can't understand any of.

"Is that right!" Clary answers. "Who knew you were so smart!"

He babbles something back, and then laughs at either what he said, or something Clary was unaware of.

"And so funny!" Clary adds. "One day you're going to have to tell me all your jokes."

A few days later, Clary was in the music room fiddling around with a new melody. She wasn't sure when she was going to do her next album - or even if she was going to do one, but she'd always liked writing.

"Mommy?" she hears Teddy say behind her.

Clary turns and sees Ella and Teddy slowly walking into the room.

"Hey you two," she says. When they get close enough, she lifts them up onto her stool on either side of her so they can see the piano keys better.

"We help?" Teddy asks.

"Do you want to learn how to play?" Clary asks them.

They both nod at her, and she slowly teaches them. At first, they just have fun being able to press the keys, but she eventually teaches them where the C key is. They look like they're getting a bit restless after that, so Clary decides to stop teaching.

She slowly gets off the chair, spins them around and then gets on her knees so that she's looking them both in the eyes.

"Can I ask you two a question?" she asks softly.

They both nod again, and each say yes.

"Why don't you like playing with Jamie?" she asks gently. She doesn't want to make them feel like they're in trouble - she just genuinely wants to know, and to see if it's something she can help.

"Teddy is brother," Ella says, holding out her hand towards Teddy.

"Ella fun!" Teddy says.

"Jamie's you're brother too," she tells Ella. "Just like Teddy. And, I know he's younger than you, but Jamie can have fun too - you could play with B as well!"

"Only Teddy!" Ella says, and looks at Clary angrily.

"I think," Clary tells her, "that sometimes Jamie gets a little bit sad that you don't play with him."

"No play Jamie!" Teddy says, and then laughs.

Clary decides that she's not getting anywhere with this conversation and puts them down so they can go play with Jace or Honky - or probably each other.

Clary sits back on her piano stool, thinking about possible ways to fix the issue. They would eventually go to preschool and school which would hopefully make them more sociable, but she still wanted them to improve a little bit in the meantime.

"Did I hear you teaching the twins piano?" Jace asks, coming into the music room a few minutes later. "I was putting Jamie down for a nap and thought I heard… some random notes. Unless you've really gone downhill since your tour ended…"

"They seem to like banging on random notes," she tells Jace as he sits next to her on the stool, "but… they could tell you where C is. Or at least they could have - I highly doubt they've remembered where it is."

"Don't you think they're a little young to start learning the piano?" Jace asks, looking down at the keys.

"It's not like I'm forcing them to do it," Clary says, "they heard me playing and wanted to 'help' so I thought why not teach them a little bit?"

"Right," Jace says, and he slowly begins playing a classical song.

"We both learnt when we were young," she says, motioning to him playing.

"I was forced into it," Jace says, still slowly playing the music.

"Well I wasn't. And it's served me well," Clary says defensively. "And like I said - I'm not forcing them into anything. They asked, and I stopped as soon as I saw they were losing interest."

"I'm not angry," Jace says, smiling at her. "Just curious."

"Okay," Clary says, kissing him on the temple. "I'm going to go make the twins some lunch."

So she left Jace in the music room, both of them distracted. Jace was thinking about the past, and how he wanted his kids to have a better life than he did, and Clary was thinking about how to get the twins to be nicer to James.

* * *

Well there you go! Let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions for the story or anything particular you want to see. Hope you're all safe, happy and healthy :)


	32. Chapter 32: Here We Go Again

**Chapter 32: Here We Go Again**

First of all I wanted to say a massive thank you for 100 reviews on this story! That's crazy - thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far :) I also wanted to say sorry for only uploading once last week. I think up loading twice might be a little bit much for me, so I'm sorry to disappoint anyone, but I'm going to have to go back to once a week. I've got university starting again next week and I just know I'll only write crappy chapters if I'm trying to squeeze in two a week - but I'll try and throw in a bonus chapter every now and then! And now onto the chapter...

* * *

Clary and Jace are sitting on their couch, watching Friends after putting the kids to bed. They'd been slowly making their way through the show, and they were up to Chandler and Monica's wedding.

"Shit," Clary whispers under her breath, quickly looking over to Jace to see if he's noticed, but he's still watching the television. "Jace?"

"Yeah baby?" Jace answers, looking over at her.

"I'm late," Clary says, standing up suddenly, causing Honky to walk off angrily.

"You're late for what?" Jace asks, "it's like nine o'clock."

"No, my period's late," Clary says.

"Are you sure?" Jace says, standing up as well.

"Well I mean, we've been really busy at the moment, what with all the kids birthdays, and just raising three kids in general," Clary explains, "But I'm pretty sure - I just didn't really notice."

"Okay umm… do you have a test or something you could take?" Jace asks, rubbing her shoulder. "It's going to be okay Clary."

"Yeah I think so," she says, heading towards their bathroom. She looks through the draws for a moment before finding a pregnancy test.

"Okay, so now we just wait a few minutes… I mean I'll go to the doctor soon anyway to make sure," Clary says, running her fingers through her hair.

"Clary, there's nothing to worry about," Jace says, "we talked about having another kid. I thought we wanted this."

"And I thought we wanted to wait a little while longer," Clary says, sitting down on the edge of the bathtub, eyeing the pregnancy test that is sitting on the edge of the sink.

"I don't think this is bad timing," Jace says, squatting down in front of Clary, "in fact I think it's actually really good. We've never been better at communicating, and I think there'll be a good age gap between all the kids."

"You think so?" Clary asks, feeling her stress go away with each word he said. How had she not noticed? She was over three weeks late for her period if she was doing her maths correctly.

"Yeah," Jace says softly, "I think so." He grabs hold of her hands, "I think this is a good thing Clary. And if that test comes back negative, then I think maybe we should start trying again anyway."

Clary nods, and looks over at the test again. She wanted to have another baby, she was sure about that. She just thought that maybe this one would be a little more planned.

"I think we can look now," Jace says, and Clary pulls her eyes away from the test to look back at Jace, who is looking at his watch.

Clary nods and slowly walks over to the sink, and then slowly picks up the test.

"I love you," she says to Jace before looking at it.

"I love you too," Jace says, eagerly looking at the test in her hand.

She flips it over. Two clear lines. She smiles up at Jace, who quickly kisses her, before picking her up and spinning her around.

"But this is the last one, okay," Clary says, laughing.

Jace wipes the tears off her cheek bones, "okay," he says, smiling. "We're going to have another baby…"

"Yeah," Clary says, beaming up at him, still crying a little bit.

Jace picks Clary up bridal style and carries her to their bed, and as soon as he places her down, James starts crying.

Jace sighs, but leaves the room anyway to go help his son.

"Hey baby," Clary whispers, gently laying her hands on her stomach. "You don't know me yet - it's going to be a while before we can meet. But I'm your mom. And I love you so much."

When Jace comes back into their room a little while later, Clary still has her hands resting on her stomach, but she's fallen asleep.

"I know this might make me sound like a bitch," Clary tells Jace a few days later. "But I don't want you doing any movies while I'm pregnant this time - in L.A. or anywhere else. I know you haven't signed on for anything yet, and I just want to say it now… I can't look after three kids while I'm pregnant."

They'd gone to the doctor yesterday who'd confirmed that Clary was pregnant. She was just about a month along.

"Of course," Jace says, "I'm not going to do that again. And it doesn't make you sound like a bitch, for the record."

"I'm sorry, I know you love filming," Clary begins.

"Hey," Jace says, cutting her off, "there's no need to apologise. I've started writing my next movie to direct - you know that. And we've got the office all worked out so I can take the twins with me. It means I can come home whenever you need - I'll only be a few minutes away. I can work whenever it suits you. And because I'll be directing and hopefully producing I'll have pretty much the last say in scheduling - it means I won't have to start until we've got everything under control with all the kids."

Clary could tell that he'd really thought it all through, and she was so grateful that this pregnancy wasn't going to lead to some relationship ruining fight.

"And, because I'll have this massive timeline to get everything ready over, I won't become stressed like I did last time. I'll be more prepared - both in actual material, and in experience." Jace says, kissing Clary on the forehead, "this is going to be your easiest pregnancy yet."

"Yeah well, don't go jinxing anything," Clary says, knocking on the dining table.

"I've thought about a lot as well," Clary says.

"Oh yeah?" Jace asks.

"Mmhmm, I'm not going to tour again for a while. At least five or six years," Clary says.

"Really?" Jace asks, looking at her shocked.

"I want to be here while my kids grow up. I can't do that if I'm leaving for months every few years."

"They could come with you?" Jace says. "It worked for us last time."

"That was with three kids," Clary says, "and they were young - we weren't really taking them away from anything yet. As they get older they'll have school and friends and probably sport and a million other things that I want to be there for, and that they won't want to leave. It's different for your work - you could film a year long movie in L.A. and you wouldn't really miss anything."

"You sound sure about this," Jace says.

"I am," Clary agrees. "I didn't really get the full family experience growing up, and I want it now."

"I just don't want you to feel like you're missing out," Jace says, looking all over her face to see if there were any signs of disappointment or sadness, but there didn't seem to be.

"I'm going to write for other people. And I've decided I'll start producing once I've had this baby," Clary says, gently rubbing her stomach. "I'll still be involved and my job will still be music, just a new part."

"It sounds like _you've_ really thought this through," Jace says, mimicking Clary's earlier thought.

"I have," Clary says, smiling at him. "This change has been coming for a while. I think now's the time."

"Look at us," Jace says, smiling at his wife, "growing up!"

"It's about time," Clary says, laughing.

And so they did what they told each other they were going to do. Jace would go into their office for a few hours each day, usually bringing the twins to write or plan his movie. Clary would usually write from home, but she was still selling a song every few weeks. She'd also been talking to Magnus how to go about this new change - how to find artists to produce for, and how to make sure she was ready when the time came.

Clary was sitting on the back deck one day while Jace was at work, watching all of the kids play. Ella and Teddy were off to one side of the yard playing with each other, and Jamie was sitting closer to Clary occupying himself with a ball.

She'd tried to talk to the twins once more about why they didn't want to play with Jamie, but she had come no closer to an answer. Before she has time to say or do anything, Ella walks up to Jamie and takes his ball, and then turns to begin playing with Teddy once again.

Even after Jamie starts crying, she doesn't give it back, so Clary walks quickly down into the garden and picks up Jamie, and softly starts shushing him, gently running her fingers through his hair.

"Ella," Clary says, walking over to the twins, "it's not kind to take things. Give the ball back to your brother and say sorry."

"I play ball!" Ella says angrily, looking up at her mother and brother.

"Jamie had it first," Clary says. "Give it back and say sorry please."

Instead, Ella sits on the ground and begins crying. Teddy is looking between Ella and his mom, clearly deciding if he should begin crying as well.

When Clary turns away from Ella without another word, she hears Teddy also begin to cry, leaving Clary in the backyard to deal with the three crying children.

She hated calling Jace away from his work, but the twins always responded better to him, so Clary takes James inside, and calls Jace, asking him to come home and help. Clary puts James down once he's stopped crying, where he begins to play with Honky.

Clary goes back outside to see that Teddy had stopped crying, but Ella was still sitting on the ground, red in the face. Clary was suspicious that no tears were falling, and as such didn't want to reward the behaviour. Instead, she decides to wait for Jace to get home.

After explaining the situation to him, Jace goes out to talk to the twins while Clary stays inside with Jamie. After a while, Ella and Teddy come inside, closely followed by Jace.

"Sorry," Ella says, dropping the ball in front of Jamie. He smiles at the ball, and then at Ella, and begins playing once again. Hopefully, Jamie and this new kid would get on better.

"How do you do it?" Clary asks Jace later that night as they're both laying in bed.

"How do I do what?" Jace asks.

"How do you get Ella to listen to you - sometimes Teddy listens to me, and I get he's two so I'm not going to win every battle. But Ella almost never does what I ask her to."

"You've just got to be patient I guess," Jace says, "and explain to her why she's supposed to do something - or not do something. And it doesn't work all the time."

"I just don't understand her," Clary says, frustrated. "I thought I'd be better at raising girls."

"You've spent your whole life practically surrounded by guys," Jace says. "So take it easy on yourself, alright."

"It seems so easy for you," Clary says.

"Well I'm glad it looks that way, because it doesn't feel like it," Jace says kindly. "And you get along with B really well - just give Ella some time."

"I shouldn't get on better with Simon's kid that may own," Clary says, rolling over to look at Jace.

"You're so good with James - and you're a great mother. Just give it some time Clary. She'll come around," Jace says.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about James actually," Clary says, sitting up a little more.

"What about?" Jace asks.

"I mean this in the nicest way possible - I think you're an amazing dad. You know that, right?" Clary asks, and Jace smiles at her, which she takes as a yes. "Just make sure you don't leave Jamie behind. He's a lot quieter than the twins. And he won't make a fuss if you don't pay attention to him, but I don't want you to spend so much of your time with the twins that you miss out on getting to be with Jamie too."

Jace looks at the ceiling for a moment, before looking back over at Clary. "Okay. Of course. I won't leave James behind."

* * *

I hope you liked that. I know a few of you are a little confused why the twins don't like playing with James, and I'm going to get into that soon, and especially when all the kids start getting a bit older. Please feel free to leave a review with any comments or questions! I hope you're all happy and healthy and have a good week :)


	33. Chapter 33: Kid Swap

**Chapter 33: Kid Swap**

Hey guys, welcome to another chapter! Hope you all enjoy. Thank you all for your lovely reviews on the last chapter! I would really appreciate it if you could read the note at the end of the chapter an respond :)

* * *

Clary and Simon were playing with Phoebe and Jamie in Simon's backyard, when Jamie falls back laughing in the grass.

"He seems happy," Simon says, picking Phoebe up and holding her above his head, blowing raspberries into her stomach.

"He is, I think," Clary says, bending down to tickle her son's exposed stomach.

"So everything's sorted out with the twins then?" Simon asks, placing B up onto his shoulders. He begins walking under the trees so she can try and grab some of the leaves.

"Not in the slightest," Clary says, laying down next to her still laughing son, "why do you think we're spending so much time over here?"

"I thought it was because Jace was working and you were lonely," Simon says, smiling at her.

"I'm not _lonely_," Clary says, "you can't be lonely with three children under three - trust me, I've tried. And Jace isn't even working that much, only a couple of hours a day - tops."

"Considering he doesn't have to do anything at the moment, that's a fair amount," Simon says, gently placing B on the ground next to James. They snuggle up to each other and begin whispering nonsense to each other.

Clary smiles at them before turning to Simon, "and why are you under the impression that my husband doesn't have to work?"

"Izzy told me that he's taking some time off," Simon says, sitting down on the ground next to Clary.

"From filming - he's still writing. He's going to direct his next movie," Clary says, wiggling her eyebrows.

"A man of many talents," Simon says, laying down on his back.

"We're very proud," Clary tells him, laying down as well. The four of them lay in the grass for a while longer, Simon and Clary watching the cloud drift lazily across the sky, while Jamie and B continue their hushed conversation of baby babble.

"So what are you going to do about the twins," Simon eventually asks, breaking the silence.

"We've got some plans in motion," Clary says, and subconsciously puts her hands over her stomach. She moves them back to the grass before Simon notices anything. "But in the meantime, I'm just trying to figure out why they don't all get along. I can see that Jamie makes an effort sometimes, but I don't really blame him for not trying. Ella seems to think she's only allowed to play with her brother."

"Have you tried telling her that James is also her brother?" Simon asks, smirking.

"Oh wow, we didn't think of that, _Einstein_," Clary says, lightly hitting him on the chest. "Of course we've tried explaining. I think she just chooses not to listen."

"I wonder where she gets that from?" Simon says.

"Hey! I always got along with my brother - _and _your sister for, actually," Clary says defensively.

"But you're also famously stubborn," Simon says.

"Jace is too!" Clary says, refusing to accept what Simon is saying.

"So is it any wonder you have a stubborn child - I think you've just got to give her a bit of time," Simon says, chuckling as Clary rolls her eyes.

"I guess I really don't have another choice," Clary says, slowly sitting up.

"She'll come around," Simon says, sitting up as well.

"Hopefully," Clary says, "I should really get going, but thanks for everything Simon."

"I'm always here to talk," Simon says, standing and then pulling Clary to her feet.

"Come on bubba," Clary says, walking over to Jamie and Phoebe, "it's time to go home."

After a moment of hesitation, James hugs Phoebe and then holds onto his mom's outstretched hand.

"Bye!" Jamie calls out, looking over his shoulder at B.

"Goo bye!" B calls back, waving her pudgy little hand.

"Was that fun?" Clary asks James as they are driving back to their house.

Clary looks in her mirror and sees Jamie nodding his head enthusiastically. "We'll come back soon, yeah?"

He lets out an excited noise and they sing along to the radio for the rest of the ride home.

"I think you should hang out with Jamie today," Clary says.

"Look, Simon's a great guy and everything, but I don't really need to spend a whole day with him," Jace says, while bouncing a squealing Teddy up and down on his knee.

"I mean, you could do a lot worse than Simon," Clary says, "but he's busy today - you'll be hanging out with Izzy. And that's only if you actually want to go see Phoebe. Jamie loves it, but I'm sure he'd be happy doing something else."

"Oh," Jace says, "well then maybe I could go over - but we've got a good thing going here."

"You need to spend time with James, and I need to spend time with the twins," Clary says. "He's an easy kid. You'll do fine."

"Whatever you say honey," Jace says, and lowers Teddy onto the ground, kisses Clary on the side of the head and then goes over to James to tell him that he'll be taking him to see B today.

"What do you two want to do today?" Clary asks the twins a little while after Jace and James have left.

Just as Ella is about to reply, Clary feels a lurch in her stomach and rushes towards the toilet. Her morning sickness had started about a week ago, but really seemed to be ramping up recently.

"Mommy 'ick?" Teddy asks when Clary comes back out of the bathroom.

"Mommy's fine, beautiful boy. I've just got a funny tummy!" Clary tells him.

"Why?" Ella asks. Clary and Jace had brought up how to tell the twins she was pregnant. They figured that they would be able to notice a lot sooner than James. They had originally planned to tell them when Clary's stomach started getting bigger. She definitely wasn't going to tell them now while Jace wasn't here.

"I think it's something I ate," Clary tells them. They look at each other, and Clary explains, "sometimes, when you eat something that isn't good, it can make your tummy not feel so good. But you two didn't eat it, so you're both okay."

They nod back at her, and each hug one of her legs.

"Thank you babies," she says, rubbing both of their heads. "Now, what do you want to do today?"

"Dog!" Ella calls out suddenly.

"You want to go see some dogs?" Clary asks her.

"Dog!" Teddy confirms.

"Do you go see dogs with daddy?" Clary asks, unsure about where she's meant to go find any dogs. They both nod, so Clary helps them both get dressed and into their car seats, all the while thinking about where they could go see dogs. She first thought about going to a shelter, but she doubted that they frequently went to animal shelters. Either they or Jace would have told her by now. She decided just to drive to one of the parks close to their house, and sure enough there was a dog park there.

Once Clary gets them both out of the car, they rush towards the dog park, and start pointing at their favourite ones. Many of the dog owners let them pet the dogs, and so they spend a while there. A few people come up to take photos with Clary, but for the most part they go undisturbed. Clary takes them both out for lunch, and by the time they get home Jace is already home with James.

Jace is in the kitchen making lunch while Jamie is on the ground playing with Honky. When Ella and Teddy see Jace they run up to him and hug his legs, and he quickly drops down to hug them back.

Jamie smiles up at Clary, but looks pretty tired.

"I think it's nap time soon!" Clary says, and the twins start arguing, and Clary understands that they don't want to go to sleep before Jamie.

"Once Jamie's eaten his lunch then everyone can go have a quick sleep - mommy included!" Clary says, and then lifts Jamie up into his high chair so he can eat lunch.

"Are you okay?" Jace asks quietly once all the kids are occupied.

"Just tired," Clary says, gently resting her hand on her flat stomach. "Who knew it would make you tired growing another human inside you?"

"I think I remember something about that…" Jace says, kissing the side of her head.

Clary takes James to bed while Jace puts the twins away, and he soon joins Clary in their room.

"How are Izzy and B?" Clary asks quietly while laying on the bed with her eyes closed.

"They're good," Jace answers, and she feels him lay down on the bed next to her. "It's kind of weird hanging out with just Iz and not talking about work."

"It's good to have friends," Clary says, smiling a little bit.

"Seems like B and James are already good friends," Jace says.

"You already knew that," Clary tells him. She rolls onto her side and opens her eyes a little bit. "How was Jamie?"

"You were right - he's a lot easier to handle than the twins," Jace says, "but I've always loved a challenge. What about you, what did you get up to?"

"We went to the park for a bit, and then got lunch," Clary says, yawning.

"Go to sleep baby," Jace says, "but I do need to talk to you about dogs when you wake up."

Too tired to question him further, Clary rolls back onto her back and quickly drifts off to sleep.

It turns out that Jace had suggested to the twins that they might be able to get a dog. Clary didn't hate the idea. But she first had to make sure that Jamie and Honky would both be okay with having a dog.

When they take James to the park the next day, he quickly becomes obsessed with the dogs, and it seems to be something he and the twins actually get along about, which makes Clary think it's an even better idea.

They get their friends to bring over their dog a few days later, and Honky seems pretty indifferent to another animal being in the house, so Clary gives the dog the idea the go ahead.

Over the next few weeks, they visit shelters looking for a puppy that everyone in the family gets along with, and they finally settle on a golden Labrador. Since Clary got to name their cat, she tells Jace that he can name their dog, since the kids are still too young to come up with anything usable.

Jace eventually comes up with Alfred, after his favourite director Alfred Hitchcock, but he quickly becomes known as Alfie.

They have everyone over to meet Alfred, and Jace puts music on. Clary rolls her eyes as one of her songs begins playing, but notices that the twins start bopping along and trying to dance to it straight away, so she doesn't say anything, and instead watches them dance to the music.

* * *

Hope you liked that! I was really hoping that you guys would have some ideas of what you would like to see in this story. I know the big events that I want to happen, and generally how I want the story to go, but I'm struggling to come up with anyways to actually make the chapters enjoyable to read! Sorry if this chapter felt a little stilled, and please share any ideas you might have! I hope you're all happy and healthy and I'll see you at the next chapter :)


	34. Chapter 34: Ten Years

**Chapter 35: Ten Years**

Hello everyone! Welcome back to another chapter. Thank you for all your kind reviews and great ideas on the last chapter - I'll be sure to work them all into the story! If you have anything you want to see (big or small) be sure to let me know and I'll try to work it in! Anyway... onto the chapter.

* * *

It's been a few busy weeks since they had gotten Alfie. Clary, Simon, Alec, Kit and Magnus had been busy arranging everything for their ten year reunion since Royal for a Night's first album. Each year they had been doing a video together to celebrate the occasion, but because this was their ten year anniversary, they knew they had to step it up.

Clary and Jace had also had their hands full with all the kids and animals, and Clary was steadily growing more pregnant. Her stomach had 'popped' a few days ago, but she had managed to hide it from everyone so far. Jace was also working on his new movie. He wanted to get it into a good condition before putting it aside to focus completely on his family once Clary really started to struggle. He was cautious however, to remember that he all the time he wanted, and his family was what was really important. He had also really started to realise that his kids were like little people, with their own personalities that were quickly developing, and he didn't want to miss it.

Jamie seemed to be a lot more athletic than the twins. He started walking well before either Ella or Teddy had managed to, and he loved playing this game with Clary where they would roll a ball backward and forward, and he'd recently started throwing it back. He also loved playing outside with Alfie, or following Honky around the house.

The twins, on the other hand, seemed to be much more into music. They frequently went into Clary's music room while she was writing, sometimes just to listen, but sometimes to 'help' her write. Jace loved how patient she was with them, and how she would slowly teach them about the piano and let them play.

They also both loved to dance. Whenever Jace or Clary would play music with a beat - it didn't really matter what genre, they would start bopping to it straight away. Clary had brought up the idea of sending them to dance class, but they both decided to wait until they were a little older to actually sign them up.

Clary was watching the twins dance one day when Jamie came up and tried to join him. In the beginning, they'd both turned their back on him, but after a little while, Ella actually pushed him away. Clary thought this may be the reason Jamie much preferred to play with his parents or the pets, but Jace insisted it was just because he didn't like music as much.

Ella really seemed to be the dominant twin. She had walked and talked first, but was quickly followed by Teddy. She also seemed to take the lead when they were playing or interacting with other people, but Teddy didn't seem to mind, so Clary and Jace left it alone the time being.

Clary knew that Jamie may have been a lonely kid if it weren't for Phoebe. Because she saw Simon almost everyday to plan the reunion, they were together almost everyday. They were frequently joined by Rafael, and the three seemed to get along like peas in a pod. Clary didn't know how the new baby was going to fit into the mix, but hoped that Jamie would let them into the little club.

Eventually the day came for the ten year reunion. Throughout the day they released music that had been last minute cuts from albums, video clips they'd decided not to release and deleted scenes from their documentary. There seemed to be a really good build up to their live video, and it all would have been absolutely perfect, if Clary's morning sickness hadn't taken a turn for the worse today.

It's not like she could even tell the guys, because Clary and Jace had decided to not tell anyone until after today, so no one could accidentally let it slip.

"Just so you know," Clary tells all the guys as they sit down around a table on the back deck of her and Jace's office, "I have really bad food poisoning. So if I run off at one point, don't be alarmed - but I'd really appreciate it if you didn't mention it."

"What, did Jace cook last night?" Kit asks, smirking.

"He's a better cook than you," Clary says, smiling back at him.

"The distinction is that I recognise my failures, and have chosen to simply have other people cook my food for me," Kit says matter of factly.

"I don't see how you think that's helping your case," Alec says, sitting in between Magnus and Clary.

"And anyway, we ate out last night - so it wasn't Jace," Clary adds.

"As _riveting _as this conversation is," Magnus says, "we've got to go live now."

"I'll cover for you," Simon says, just before Magnus turns on the live stream.

"Thanks," Clary whispers back.

For the next hour or so, they all answer questions that have been sent in by fans. Questions range from when the band will get back together - "we're all individually in a good place right now. We don't have a date set yet, but don't worry - it will be one day!" Alec answers, to how they've managed to stay so humble. "I think," Clary begins answering, "that we all had moments when we got a big head, but luckily the reason was different for each of us, so we had everyone else around to tell us to stop being stupid and get on with it."

This question is quickly followed by asking what made each of them get a big head.

"I think it was just getting signed for me," Kit answers laughing.

"Unfortunately, his head has remained much larger than average," Simon says, and then quickly gets punched by Kit.

"My head is a perfect size, thank you very much."

"He's just so modest," Alec says, "I don't know how he keeps it up."

"My time was after our first big concert," Simon says, "it's hard not too when you're sixteen and there's an arena full of people screaming for you and singing along with you."

"Mine was after our first time as Madison Square," Clary says.

"Mine was probably when our first album went to number one," Alec says, "and we had all of these people I'd admired for so long congratulating us."

They then get asked about their favourite tattoos.

"I've got a bumble bee on my arm," Simon says, "for my daughter. That's probably my favourite."

"Yeah, I've got 'Raf' on my forearm in Raf's writing," Alec says.

"Mines an oldie - I haven't gotten a new tattoo in a while," Clary says, "but it's on my ribs - I think I've shown it before, but it's just a nice little list of all my families - I've been adding my kids to it as they're born."

"Well show us," Kit says, wiggling his eyebrows.

Clary is about to lift her shirt, when she remembers that she's pregnant and it'll be pretty obvious if she lifts her baggy t-shirt.

"You show us your belly," Clary says defensively.

"Fine, but only because I want to," Kit says, lifting his shirt - "oh, and that's my favourite tattoo," he points at his ribs to a simple drawing of a crescent moon with stars around it, "because my girlfriend has a matching one."

"I hope they were all sappy enough for you," Simon says, laughing.

Someone then asks how involved they all are in each other's lives.

"It's almost like we're still in a band," Kit says, "if no one's on tour then we'll see each other every couple of days - we have dinner together every Friday. And even if we are on tour we Facetime all the time."

"They're all Godfather's to my children," Clary says.

"And they're Godparents to B," Simon adds.

"Excuse me! I'm Godparent to nobody!" Kit says.

"Just wait," Clary says. Her and Jace had already decided that Kit and Emma were going to be Godparents to their next child. But then she realises that nobody, including the guys, knows that she's pregnant and quickly adds. "I'm sure there are hundreds of people out there who would happily have you as their child's Godfather."

They answer a few more questions when Clary feels that familiar nauseous feeling, and rushes off to the toilet. When she comes back outside a few minutes later, Kit is talking about how she has food poisoning.

"I thought we were going to keep that a secret!" Clary says, sitting down again.

"You left and people wanted to know why," Kit says. "And only Simon said he'd keep it a secret."

"Well, you could've just said I went to the bathroom," Clary says.

"You were gone a while…" Kit says.

"Moving on," Magnus says, who had been asking them the questions, "I think we've got time for one more question…"

"Is it about you?" Simon asks.

"You know I would've brought myself up much sooner if there had been any questions," Magnus says.

"Okay - are you having fun?" Clary asks quickly.

"It's been alright," Magnus says. "For the last question - what do you all have coming up in the next few months?"

"I've got no plans!" Kit says, "it's possibly something I should be concerned about, but I'm choosing to be optimistic!"

"I'm slowly working on some music - probably won't be released for a few months at least though," Simon says.

"I'm just going to hang out with my family - Jace is working on some stuff, so I'll be happy to support him with that," Clary says.

"And I'll continue writing music for other people, and just hanging out with my family as well," Alec finishes.

They have a few closing remarks, thanking everyone for their continued support, and everyone who has been involved with the band, and a promise to do something again next year.

"I think that went well," Kit says, slowly getting up.

"I've gotta go to the bathroom again," Clary says, rushing back inside.

When she comes back from the bathroom, Simon asks, "how bad is that food poisoning - and how come Jace is fine?"

"It's not good," Clary says matter of factly, "and Jace and I ate different meals… so I guess it was just something in mine.

"I don't buy it," Magnus says, and after a look at Clary he smiles, but just gets a water bottle out of the fridge, not saying anything.

In the following few days, Clary and Jace come clean to everyone, and Magnus and Alec admit that they had already figured it out.

There's also a bit of public speculation following the video. People seemed to notice that she only wore baggy clothing, and they were suspicious that she kept rushing out of the video, but more people seemed to be talking about all the new content, which was good news.

The next people she had to break the news to was Ella and Teddy. James was still too young to understand what was really going on, but Ella and Teddy were bound to notice her stomach soon, and they seemed concerned each time she rushed off to the bathroom.

"Ella, Teddy," Jace says kindly, "you're going to have a new brother or sister soon."

"Where?" Teddy asks, looking around.

"They're in mommy's tummy," Clary says, running her hands over her small bump.

"Baby tomorrow?" Ella asks.

"It's going to be a while - they're too small to meet them yet. But in a few months you'll be able to meet them."

"No!" Ella calls out, laughing.

Clary gives Jace a concerned look - she'd been worried she would have this reaction.

"You can be friends with your new brother or sister," Jace tells her, "I know you'll be a good big sister just like you are to Teddy!"

Ella runs into Jace arms, and Teddy wraps his arms around his leg, and they appear to not want to discuss the topic any further.

* * *

I hope you liked that - a nice little band moment which we haven't had in a while, and some progression of the kids and pregnancy! I hope you're all happy and healthy, and I'll see you next week :)


	35. Chapter 35: Countdown

**Chapter 35: Countdown**

Hello and welcome back! I have a quick question I'd be really appreciative if you answered at the end of the chapter, but other than that I hope you enjoy...

* * *

It had been a few more months and Clary's due date was quickly approaching. This had probably been her easiest pregnancy yet. She knew what to expect and what it should feel like, and Jace and everyone else were being so helpful that she didn't feel too tired. She'd even been confident enough to go out in public when she was visibly very pregnant, which she hadn't done the previous two times.

As always, Clary had a plan for when she went into labour. Thankfully, she didn't need a plan this time because she didn't know if Jace was going to be there, but because she had three other kids to think about now, and she couldn't exactly bring them to hospital with her.

When she does go into labour, she is going to call Magnus and Alec, who will come over to her house with Raf to look after everyone. They told Clary that they would call on Izzy and Simon if they needed more help, but now that all the kids were a bit older, it was a bit easier to handle. After the baby is born, Jace will go back home to look after the kids again, and assuming everything goes well, Clary will come home with the baby a few days later.

In the meantime, however, Clary had their current life to deal with, which included signing the twins up for dance class. They seemed to love it so much that she thought they may enjoy it, and she hoped it would help them to get along with other children.

Jace wasn't sure if they were ready for something like that yet, seeing as they were barely three years old, and Clary admitted that she didn't start dance classes until she was nearly five. They decided that they could go to a couple of trial classes to see if they liked it. If it was a fit, they could keep going, and if it wasn't they could try again in a few years.

So after going shopping with Izzy to buy them cute little dance outfits, Clary brought them to class while Jace stayed home with Jace. Since Jace took him to the park, they seemed to get on a lot better, which Clary was glad about. Plus, she didn't think it was fair to make James sit and watch the twins dance for an hour.

After quickly introducing herself, Ella and Teddy to the dance teacher, Clary goes into the little room with a viewing window to watch their lesson. She thought she'd be able to get away with having a quiet afternoon watching her babies dance with some other kids, but she quickly noticed that every other mother in the room was whispering about her.

"She's _so_ pregnant - isn't this going to be their fourth child?" one lady whispers.

"Honestly, I thought they'd have a nanny that would do this type of thing," another woman says, not even bothering to lower her voice, "her kind usually does."

"She's very young, isn't she?" the lady in front of her says, quickly turning to get a better look. "Think the first one was an accident?"

At this comment, Clary can't help but bud in, "they weren't an accident," is all she says, and then she looks back at Teddy, who is spinning around next to Ella.

"Excuse me?" the woman asks.

"I might be young," Clary explains, "but when I got pregnant I had been married for a year, I owned my house, my cars and had a job that was paying millions a year. My husband makes a lot of money as well, but I don't have to rely on him."

Clary hoped that she was being this snippy because of how pregnant she was, but people had been making comments like this about her and Jace for years, and it felt good to finally stand up for herself.

"Whatever," the lady says, rolling her eyes and leaning in to her friend to whisper.

After her response, the whispers seem to die down, so Clary is able to better focus on Ella and Jamie, which is really all she wanted to do.

Once they all get home, Ella and Jamie tell Jace about how much fun they had, and how badly they want to go back.

"They really looked like they had fun," Clary tells Jace later that night after they had put all the kids to bed. Clary could put up with a few bitchy comments if it meant Ella and Teddy were happy.

"I don't know… they're so young," Jace says, pulling back the covers on their bed.

"How about you come in next week," Clary suggests, "you can see for yourself how much they love it and then we can make a decision."

So, a week later, Jace joins Clary and James in the small room with the bitchy mothers to watch Ella and Teddy dance. Jace seemed to have the opposite effect Clary did. They all thought it was amazing that he would come to watch his children dance. And that it was so cute of him to be a young father. And they were so impressed that he wanted to play such a big role in his kids life - some even commented on how much James looked like him, which James ignored for the game of peek-a-boo he and Clary were playing.

The lady who made the comment about Teddy and Ella being an accident actually tries to get a photo with Jace, but she backs off pretty quickly when Jace says he's just here to see his children dance and to be with Clary.

Despite the mothers, Jace agrees that the twins seem to love the class, and so they sign them up to attend once a week for the moment.

While in their office sorting out future plans for the company, a man comes to talk to Clary and Jace about a TV show.

"The story would follow a band coming off the high of their recently released album and shows how they deal with fame and everything that comes with the new territory. We don't want to shy away from the nitty-gritty - we want to show the toll fame can have on relationships, and how tempting it can be to give in to drugs and alcohol and the 'star' life. We want Jace to play the main character - episodes would focus on different band members of course, and show how different people and events can shape a specific path - but we would want Jace to play the lead singer, and for his character to have the biggest transformation," he explains.

"We would also love for Clary to come on board - we want the music to be real, and authentic. Each episode will revolve around an event, which will produce a song for the band's next album. We'd also love to get your input to make the show as realistic as possible," he says, and then quickly adds, as if detecting what Clary would say next, "the show would in no way be based on your experiences, you would just be fixing and reshaping things that are too unrealistic. We want the show to feel really authentic."

Before either Clary or Jace has a chance to respond, he keeps talking, "we'd also like for Jace to come on board as a producer. We've seen what he's done in the past and it's something very we're very interested in having on board."

"I can't speak for Jace," Clary says after taking everything in, and resting her hands on her stomach, "but I'm not really in a position to take on anything like that yet."

"I'm also just really focused on my family at the moment - thank you for the offer, but I think we're both going to have to pass." Jace looks over to Clary, who nods in agreement.

"I totally understand that," he says, "and we're willing to wait. We haven't approached anybody else for these roles yet - and truth be told we don't want to. If both of you are flat out refusing, we've agreed not to go ahead with the project. We're willing to wait for as long as you need - years even."

"Why do you want us so badly?" Jace asks. He'd had people pitch things to him like this before, only to soon find out they'd offered the role to five other actors.

"We love the passion you two bring to everything. The authenticity Jace can bring to a role, and the rawness Clary can bring to her music. We want people to feel something watching this show, and that is going to be achieved with you two backing it."

"Who else have you offered it to?" Clary asks, clearly thinking along the same lines as Jace.

"No one. Like I said - we want you two. The show's just not going to happen without you."

"Could we have a while?" Jace asks, "to think everything over?"

"Of course, of course… here's my card - let me know what you decide," he says, handing a card over to Clary.

_Woolsey Scott, director and producer. Praetor Productions. _

"Don't feel pressured into doing anything," Jace says, resting his hand on Clary's knee, "he's trying to go for the big pitch to pressure us into accepting the roles quickly.

"I don't know," Clary responds, "he seems pretty excited - and it sounds like a good show."

"You want to do it?" Jace asks, sounding surprised.

"Not right away, obviously… but it'd be nice to work on one thing for a while, instead of writing one or two songs for one artist and them moving on."

"I have always liked the idea of being in a TV show…" Jace says, "and they say TV is quickly overtaking movies."

"What about your movie?' Clary asks, "you've been working on it for a year now - I thought you wanted to start filming that sometime in the next year?"

"It can wait," Jace says, "just like this show can - we don't have to make any decisions until we know what kind of position we're both in after this baby is born. Who knows - they may be an absolute handful and neither of us can work!"

"And we've got to try and get the twins to get along with Jamie first," Clary says, leaning back into her chair and rubbing her stomach.

"I was talking to Izzy about that actually," Jace says, "and she thinks James and B are such great friends because they've spent so much time, just the two of them - so I thought maybe if we get each of the twins to spend some one-on-one time with him that they might get along a bit better."

"It's worth a try," Clary says, holding her hands out so Jace can help her stand, "anything is."

So, that's exactly what they tried the next day. Jace took Jamie and Teddy along to the dog park with Alfie, and Jace said that Teddy seemed a bit disoriented to begin with because Ella wasn't with him, but he eventually warmed up to playing with Alfie and James. He said by the end they were even laughing together - which was something they'd never done before.

Ella, however, wasn't as easily persuaded. Jace took her and James down to the beach to play in the sand for a little while, and she just cried the whole time, calling out Teddy's name. James was quite happy to play by himself, Jace said, trying to walk in the sand and follow Alfie around.

At least they'd managed to make some progress with Teddy. He still seemed to prefer to play with Ella, but he definitely wasn't shutting down the idea of playing with James anymore - Ella seemed to do it for him.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed that! My question is... after this next baby is born, I've got a few chapters planned, but then I was thinking of doing an age jump so the kids are all a bit older - probably about five years. I was also thinking of doing a third story which really focuses on the kids. So let me know what you think about both those ideas - the time jump and the third story. I'll only do the third story if people actually seem interested in the idea. Anyway, I hope you're all happy and healthy, and I'll see you next week :)


	36. Chapter 36: The New Addition

**Chapter 36: The New Addition**

Hello everyone and welcome back! Thank you for all the lovely reviews I've received on the last few chapter. A few of you review on most chapters, and it makes me very happy every time I see your name. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

* * *

"Meet Lucie Eloise Herondale," Clary says to Kit and Emma, "your Goddaughter."

"She is just precious," Emma says, sitting in the chair next to her crib.

"Am I allowed to say she's your cutest kid?" Kit asks, "because I'm going to say it anyway."

"Her eyes," Emma says, "they're just like yours… so green."

"And she's inherited the red hair… I guess one of them had to get it," Kit says, laughing a little bit.

"It's lighter than mines ever been," Clary says, smiling at her daughter.

Jace was at home with the kids - he'd stayed last night for as long as he could, but he eventually had to go home. They'd decided that Emma and Kit, being Lucie's Godparents, should get to meet her first. Everyone else was going to meet her when she came home, which was looking like it'd be tomorrow.

This meant that Clary and Lucie had had a fair amount of alone time, and Clary had to agree that Lucie was the most similar looking to Clary.

"She's so little!" Kit says, after Clary had helped him pick her up.

"She's definitely smaller than James was," Clary agrees, "but she's way bigger than the twins were - which good."

Clary, Kit and Emma spend the morning in the hospital, talking about Lucie and other things. Emma and Kit take turns holding her until she starts to get a bit fussy, which is when Emma and Kit leave.

Clary spends most of the rest of the day sleeping, knowing she's not going to do a lot of it when she gets home the next day.

When Clary does bring her home the next day, she is met by an onslaught of everyone in the house. Jace rushes over to take her bag and help her to the couch. Ella, Teddy and Jamie all rush over to greet Clary, and then take great interest in the new addition in the carrier.

"This is your new little sister," Jace explains to the three kids. "Lucie."

"Hi Lucie?" Teddy says, waving at the sleeping baby.

"Hi," Ella says, also waving.

"She's asleep right now, and a bit too young to talk," Clary explains, "but I know she's excited to meet you."

James doesn't say anything, but climbs onto the couch and sits next to his mom, not taking his eyes off Lucie. After a moment or two, Ella and Teddy rush off to what they had been doing before Clary came home, but James stays on the couch next to Clary, watching his new sister with great curiosity.

Alfie comes over, sniffing around the carrier. He lets out an excited bark which wakes Lucie and she begins crying.

"S'okay," Jamie says, speaking to her for the first time.

"You're such a good big brother," Clary tells him, whilst picking up Lucie to try and calm her.

James follows Clary and Lucie around for the rest of the afternoon, sometimes joined by Teddy. Teddy likes to watch her, but gets easily distracted by whatever Ella is doing. Jamie, on the other hand, tries to help in all the ways a two year old can. Once, Lucie spits her pacifier out, and James rushes over on his little legs to pick it up and give it back to her, not quite understanding that she can't take it from him.

They move Lucie into the star ceiling nursery that night, as it's the closest room to Clary and Jace. Clary and Jace both stand in the room, watching her sleep for a moment before slowly moving back into their own bedroom.

"It's official," Clary says, falling into their bed, "that's our last kid. I'm too old to have another one!"

"You're twenty-six!" Jace says, lying down next to her.

"Almost twenty-seven!" Clary says, "and I don't see your point."

"Most people haven't even started yet!" he says, amused.

"Are you telling me you want more?" Clary asks, looking over at him.

"God no - we've got our hands full. I'm just pointing out that you're not old," Jace says.

"I feel like you're only saying that because if I'm old, you're old," Clary says.

"Age is all mental," Jace says, shutting his eyes, "I'll be young forever."

At that moment, Lucie begins crying.

"Well, it's your turn, _young man_," Clary says, rolling onto her side. She hears Jace chuckle, and then get out of bed to go soothe their youngest daughter.

In the following few days, Clary focuses on nothing but her children. Obviously making sure that Lucie is comfortable in the new environment was important, but she also wanted to make sure that none of her other kids felt forgotten or overlooked. She didn't think about music once; not writing for other people, not the upcoming TV show and certainly not her own album.

It's only a few days later, when she goes into her music room for the first time since having Lucie, that she realises this. She knew she wouldn't quit cold turkey - she didn't want to do that, and having nothing to do would drive her and everyone else in the house crazy. But she knew with certainty that the next few years of her life were going to be about other people, and that was okay.

She was comfortable writing for other people, producing other peoples albums, looking after the kids and supporting Jace in his career. She knew there was a possibility that the next album she would actually play any music on could be with the guys, and that thought didn't scare her. She wanted a few years to be in the background, doing the hard and dirty but so rewarding work.

And it's because of this more child focused role that she's able to notice the little things about her kids that she otherwise would have missed. She's able to notice that whenever Ella makes a mess, she quickly tries to clean it, looking around to see if anyone is going to get mad at her for it. She's able to notice how Teddy unconsciously moves along to music - when he's eating, in the bath or even watching TV. She's able to notice how Jamie keeps an eye on Lucie, and is quick to go to her if she calls out. And she's able to notice Lucie laughing for the first time - at Jamie running after Alfie.

Clary and Jace's wish that Jamie, Phoebe and Lucie could all be friends is quickly fulfilled. B takes up a similar fascination with Lucie, and she can hear Jamie trying to explain things about her to B when they play together. Assuming the relationship continued when they were older, Clary knew she didn't have to worry about Jamie feeling left out in his own house.

The twins, however, seemed more determined to stick to each other than ever. While Teddy would sometimes get caught up looking at Lucie, he would quickly get pulled back to whatever he was doing with Ella. They would play with their parents, but seemed to have almost no interest in playing with other kids.

Their dance teacher had made a comment that they seemed much more interested in dancing than making friends, which was unusual for kids of that age. It wasn't that they couldn't talk to other people - it was simply that they wouldn't.

It was because they were determined to get Teddy and Jamie playing together again, and Clary was desperate to leave the house that they slowly began going to the park near their house again. They still hadn't gone out with all four children yet - that seemed like the next step they weren't quite ready to take yet, but they had each left with three kids before, and it seemed manageable. They knew it would get easier when everyone started getting a bit older and less reliant on their parents for everything.

A few weeks later, Clary and Jace agree that everything is under control enough to Jace begin working on the TV show. He would go into the office for a couple of hours each day where script writers, directors and cinematographers would meet him to start planning and scheduling everything. If he has a casual day, he'll take the twins with him but there had been a couple of days when Clary had been at home with the four kids. It was a lot, but she'd figured out how to handle everything. The hardest times were when they all had to have something at the same time, like at lunch or nap times. She now knew it was best to do everything from youngest to oldest - Lucie got the fussiest the quickest, and the twins were comfortable occupying themselves while Clary fed someone else.

Clary couldn't start writing any music until the scripts had been written, but Jace would come home each day and fill her in on what he had done. Clary thought it was good to see him excited and passionate again.

She had also slowly started to teach him how to play guitar - his character in the show needed to know how to play one, and he wanted to look as comfortable as possible. It definitely helped that he already knew how to play piano, but Clary liked that they would have a moment together every night, when all the kids had gone to bed that was just for them.

He kept requesting that she teach him all of her songs, because they "obviously the best, and probably the only thing I should really know how to play," as Jace put it. She started him out on some of her earlier stuff because it was usually less complicated, and he was picking it up pretty quickly.

Emma and Kit were also now frequent visitors to the Herondale house. At least one of them came over most days to see Lucie, and play with all the kids - Emma loved to have running races with Jamie, and Kit liked it when the twins would dance when he played the guitar, so Clary was never really alone.

When Clary reveals to Kit that she's only going to write and produce for the next few years, he's at first angry that she's giving up performing, but then becomes excited when he realises that means she can produce his albums.

"You need a label a lot bigger than what I've got," Clary tells him, and it was true. Clary planned on producing either small or new artists.

"You produced your last album," Kit says, "and I know for a fact it sold more copies than mine - not that I'm bitter about it."

"Of course I'll help you write your next album if you want, but I really think you should stick with your current label," Clary says.

"They're a bunch of twats trying to cut everything down and making it more generic. I know you've got more talent in your left middle toe than everyone combined in that building, and I'm not taking no for an answer!" Kit says, all while bouncing Lucie softly on his hip - he's really become quite a natural around children.

"You know I'd love to work with you again, but-"

"Then it's decided! I won't be renewing my contract and I'll be coming over to you. You can do your little TV show and then we'll start writing my album," Kit says, holding Lucie's arms up so she celebrates with him.

"Are you sure?" Clary asks, "I don't want to hold you back."

"I'm dead certain," Kit replies, "you've never held me back - you're too good. You simply couldn't even if you wanted to."

* * *

I hope you all liked that! A little bit of setting up for the future. Like I asked in the last chapter, I was thinking about doing a few more chapters of all the kids this young, and then doing a bit of a time jump, so let me know what you think about that idea. And also about another story that really focuses on the kids! I hope you all have a great week, and are happy and healthy :)


	37. Chapter 37: Circles

**Chapter 37: Circles**

Hello everyone, and welcome to another chapter! I hope you enjoy it - I've slowly been working in things that people have requested, so feel free to suggest anything else!

* * *

Clary was the happiest she could ever remember being. She could spend as much time with all of her kids as she wanted to. She could take the twins to dance class, Jamie for play dates at Phoebe's and could sit around talking to Lucie for hours.

She was still writing for other people, and had just started writing for the show, which meant she got to spend more time with Jace. There were going to be twelve episodes of the show, which meant that she had to write one snog for each. She had decided, however, to write three or four for each episode so they could choose which one they liked the best, and which one actually matched the episode the best.

She was also still teaching Jace how to play the guitar. She knew he had gotten the hang of it now and was more using it as an excuse to spend time with her, but she didn't mind at all.

She had also slowly been making plans with Kit about producing his next album. He had a few months before his contract was up with his current record label, so they had to wait until at least then. Clary also wanted to wait for Jace to finish filming before they really started working on it, so they still had a while to wait.

As she got older, Lucie only got easier to handle. She didn't know if it was just the experience of raising three kids before her, or if she was simply a less fussy child, but she seemed to be less demanding than any of her siblings. It definitely helped that Jace was frequently, and that Emma and Kit still came over all the time to play with Lucie. The biggest struggle was having four kids under four. Her and Jace had always agreed that they wanted all their kids to be very similar in age so that they all got on with one another, but this was the possible drawback they hadn't considered.

Simon and Izzy, and Alec and Magnus still only had one kid each, who were now growing up and becoming more independent so they didn't fully understand the stress Clary and Jace were under, though they tried to help. Alec and Magnus had been talking about adopting another child so that Rafa had someone to play with, but it was all just talk at the moment. Simon and Izzy, however, had seen the stress multiple children had caused Clary and Jace and were very happy with just Phoebe.

Simon had told Clary they were sure they were only going to have one child - it was all they felt they needed. Clary and Jace both knew they wanted a big family, and four kids was definitely big enough.

It reminded Clary of being on tour; being up at ungodly hours, spending most of your time looking after other people's concerns and the constant physical strain. The difference was that Clary found all of this work rewarding, whereas being in the band literally made her dread waking up in the morning.

And she knew the work would change everyday. If felt like doing the same day over and over again before, but now everyday brought new challenges and new rewards. That didn't mean it wasn't exhausting. Clary and Jace still didn't have the confidence to go out with all the kids; not when the paparazzi were so hungry for a photo with all the family together for the first time.

They did, however, keep discussing a trip to France. Jace's parents hadn't met any of the kids yet, and his mom kept mentioning how she wanted to see them. She had offered for her and Stephen to fly to L.A. if it was easier, but Jace said he would much prefer to go to them if it was okay with Clary. He didn't want to let his dad back into this environment - especially not when the twins were around the same age that Jace started doing movies.

"We could go before you start filming?" Clary said.

"I mean, that's in a month. Are you sure you're up for that at the moment?" Jace asks.

"There's not really going to be a better time," Clary answers. "You'll film for a few months, and then I start writing and recording with Kit and you'll probably go back to working on your movie. And then who knows what comes after that."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Jace says, rubbing his forehead.

"And Lucie's slept through the night the past two nights, and Ella and Teddy are properly potty trained. I don't think there's really going to be a better time to go if you want to go in the next year," Clary says, gently pulling his hands from his head and holding them in her own.

"But you're still writing," Jace says. She could tell he was searching for excuses to not go see his dad.

"I don't have to write for anybody but the show at the moment, and I can do that anywhere - especially if I'm travelling with the producer of the show!" She looks him in the eyes and starts speaking more softly, "if you don't want to see him, we don't have to go. We can figure out a way for your mom to come here alone."

"That's not really fair on any one though," Jace says, resting his chin on top of her head.

"It doesn't have to be," Clary says, whispering now, "you can be selfish sometimes. Especially about this."

"No," Jace says, "cause he'll just come here too and that'll fuck everything up. All the work we've put into them having a normal life."

"They're never going to have a normal life," Clary says gently, "we can dream and talk about it all we want - our kids are always going to be in the spotlight. Your dad coming here isn't going to change that."

"I want them so see France," Jace says, taking a step back so he can look at Clary and she can see that he means it, "I think they'll love it. And you haven't seen it in Spring - it's the best time to you to be in Idris, really."

"If you're sure," Clary says, lightly.

"I am. We can organise it all tomorrow."

Before they went to France, however, there were a few things that had to be done. The twins had their first dance recital, and Clary had a mysterious dinner with Hodge Starwhether to attend.

Clary and Jace decide that the night should be for just the twins, so they leave Jamie and Lucie at home with Diana. After the dance recital, which as Jace put it was "the cutest thing he'd ever seen," they took the twins out for dinner.

"Did you see me spin!" Ella asks, very excited.

"It was the best spinning I saw all night!" Jace says.

"You jumped so high!" Clary tells Teddy, tickling him in the stomach, "I thought you were going to go through the roof!"

Teddy laughs back at his mom, and then goes on eating his pasta.

As they all leave the restaurant to get back to the car, a bunch of paparazzi start taking photos.

Clary and Jace quickly make a move to block Ella and Teddy from the cameras, but apparently they have different plans. Both still in their dance costumes, they step away from their parents and start posing for the photos - Ella does a few spins for them, while Teddy hops around.

Clary knew that the only reason Jace wasn't stopping them was because the paparazzi where keeping a good distance away, but the moment one comes within a few feet of either child, Jace will yell out at them and threaten to push them away from his kids. After about a minute or so, Clary picks up Teddy and Jace holds Ella's hand and they start making their way towards the car. Of course, the crowd of cameras follow them, and it's a few minutes until they are completely free of the cameras.

"And that's why we can't go out with all the kids," Jace says, still agitated by the cameras, "we can't protect them all at once."

"Ah, Clary!" Hodge Starkwhether says, standing to welcome her, "I'm glad you could make it."

"Mr Starkwhether," Clary says by way of greeting. They both sit down and a waiter takes their drink orders. "To what do I owe this _pleasure_."

"Well, I wanted to start by saying congratulations - I know we haven't talked for quite a while, and how much you've achieved in that time!"

"Are you talking about my career, or my personal life?" she knew he was only interested in her career, but she wanted to see how much he would try to flatter her.

"Both, of course. Both of your albums were just fabulous, and you've just got the cutest little kids. You've just had another, if I'm not mistaken?" he says, very politely.

"A few months ago," Clary admits. "Did you just want to catch up? Or was there another reason you invited me here?"

"Well of course it's great to catch up… but there have been rumours," he says, clearly eager to move onto the business topic.

"Rumours, you say?" Clary asks, amused. She had some idea of where this conversation would lead before she came, but she didn't know Starkwhether was going to bring it up.

"That _Royal's For The Night_, was perhaps looking at ending it's break," he says, his beady little eyes not leaving her face.

"You don't say… well if I'm not mistaken," Clary says, having perhaps a little too much fun, "and I don't think I am, we told you that we would not be resigning with Circle Records when the day did come to end our break."

"Well yes," he says, confident that she had just confirmed the rumours herself, "but that was many years ago. Times change - positions change. You've got a family to think about now, as do many of your band mates."

"Why is it just me here then?" Clary asks. That was the one thing she hadn't been able to figure out. "Surely Simon or Alec or Kit - if not all three, should be here as well."

"You were always the most reasonable," Starkwhether says smiling.

"Or the most easily manipulated," Clary corrects.

"I personally believe you've also had the most success outside of the band - it made sense to think of you as the leader," he says, still trying hard to smile.

"It appears you've been keeping tabs on us, Mr Starkwhether," Clary says, and Hodge chuckles a little bit, "so you must know that I've got my own production company?"

Starkwhether looks around the room, and then leans in closer to Clary, "I've got to admit, I was very impressed that you started that up so quickly," he leans back into his chair, "but we both know you don't have the capabilities to support a band as popular and successful as the one you were in."

Had it come from someone else, Clary might have been offended. But Hodge Starkwhether had never been a nice man. Or a patient one, so Clary decided to give him her answer.

"As a man who's started many rumours himself," Clary says, feigning politeness, "you must know that there is frequently no truth behind them. It appears what you have heard and fallen for are simply baseless rumours. As we told you many years ago, Mr Starkwhether, we are not interested in working with Circle Records again."

"Now listen her, Ms Fray-"

"It's Herondale now," Clary cuts in.

"I wouldn't want you making any rushed decisions you will come to regret."

"It's been over ten years since we first met, Mr Starkwhether," Clary says, "You may have persuaded me to make a bad decision then, but you won't be able to do it now. I won't be scared into signing to your label again."

"It is unfortunate for you then," he says smirking, "that Circle Records owns your band name - and the right to all your music."

"For another four years," Clary says, smiling. They'd had lawyers look into what legal rights they held over everything. "We're perfectly fine waiting that long. Now," she says, standing up, "if that was all you wanted to discuss… I've got to be going. I'm flying to France tomorrow!"

* * *

I guess you can figure out where the story is headed... let me know if there's anything you want to see - from general story to character specific stuff and I'll try my best to work it in! I hope you're all happy and healthy, and have a great week :)


	38. Chapter 38: Family

**Chapter 38: Family**

Hello and welcome back to another chapter! I hope you all enjoy it!

* * *

Flying wasn't nearly as easy with four kids to look after. Clary and Jace were both completely over it, after two flights and a decent car drive, but they were finally at Jace's parents house.

Celine and Stephen come outside to greet them, and Clary feels Teddy hold on tightly to her jeans, nervous about meeting new people. She looks over and sees Ella hiding behind Jace's leg; Lucie and Jamie were both asleep in the car.

Jace bends down and picks up Ella, and then slowly approaches his parents. Clary holds out her hand for Teddy to hold, and then she slowly follows Jace.

"Hi mom," Jace says, completely ignoring his father, "this is Ella, and that's Teddy. This is your Grandma guys."

"Hello," Celine says softly, bending down to be eye level with Teddy, "it's wonderful to finally meet you."

"Hi," Teddy says softly, still unsure about the new company. After a moment, he looks over at Stephen, and tugs on Clary's jacket. She bends down so he can whisper in her eyes, "who's he?"

"That's daddy's dad - he's your grandpa," Clary explains, smiling at Teddy before standing back up.

"Hello young man," Stephen says. When Teddy doesn't respond, it's clear that he's not sure what else to say.

"Should we get everyone inside?" Celine asks after a moment of silence, "I'm sure everyone's ready for a rest after you've travelled for so long."

Jace puts Ella down on the ground, where she hurries off to stand at Teddy's side, so Jace can hug his mom. After a moment, Celine comes over and hugs Clary as well, and then Stephen leads Jace and the twins inside while Celine helps Clary get Jamie and Lucie out of the car.

"Absolument precieux," Celine says under her breath when she sees Lucie. "Oh! Mon petit lion," she adds upon seeing James, clearly seeing the resemblance to his father.

"You two have absolutely beautiful children," Celine tells Clary as she gently carries Lucie into the house.

"We think so," Clary says, smiling down at Jamie, who was still asleep in her arms.

"Just bring them there, Clary, chere," Celine says, leading her into a bedroom that has a beautiful crib and another, smaller bed.

"It's beautiful," Clary tells Celine as she softly places Lucie into the crib.

"It used to be Jace's," Celine explains.

"I don't think my parents kept any of my baby stuff," Clary says, laughing.

"You probably think it's silly… I just couldn't throw it away," Celine says, lightly brushing hair away from Lucie's eyes.

"I don't think it's silly," Clary says, "I haven't gotten rid of any of any of Ella or Teddy's things yet - Lucie is still using most of it, but it hasn't even occurred to me to do it."

Celine smiles up at Clary, before slowly taking her hand away from Lucie's head and standing up straight. "We should go make sure Jace and Stephen aren't killing each other."

Clary chuckles a little bit, but then feels guilty about leaving Jace alone with his dad straight away, and quickly follows Celine down the hall to the living room everyone else had gone to.

Thankfully, Jace seemed to be happy ignoring his father, and currently had Ella and Lucie stood up on a bench so they could see out the window. Stephen was sitting on the couch watching them. Clary couldn't read the expression on his face.

"And _way_ over there," Jace says, pointing out the window, "are the horse stables - we can go visit them tomorrow, when the suns come back up."

"Jace!" Clary says, coming into the room, "get them off the table." She hurries over to where they're all standing, and quickly picks up Teddy, tickling him on the stomach before putting him on the ground.

"It's alright," Celine says, watching Jace help Ella off the table, "I don't mind a bit of mess."

"Thank you Celine, but they really shouldn't be standing on tables," Clary says, shooting Jace a look.

"Should we start putting dinner on?" Celine asks.

"What do you think, Miss Ella?" Jace asks, "do you want some dinner?"

Ella laughs before nodding, and so Clary follows Celine into the kitchen to help make dinner while Jace takes Ella and Teddy off for a bath.

"You know I really wasn't sure," Celine says after a while, "if Jace was going to be a good dad. Stephen tried, but he never really got it."

"He's a great dad," Clary says, smiling over Celine, "he loves them so much."

"I'm glad - it's what you and they deserve," Celine says, and then she turns back to the pot, smiling.

After dinner, Clary and Jace put all the kids to bed and then come back to the living room where Celine had lit the fire and made cups of tea for everyone.

"I think it'll be an early one for Clary and I," Jace says, already yawning.

"I can't imagine how tired you both are!" Celine says, lightly pinching her son's cheek. "They've done such a good job, haven't they Stephen."

Stephen nods, not taking his calculating eyes off his son.

"But anyway," Jace says, not giving his dad a chance to speak, "how have you been mom? I know we speak every week but I haven't seen you in years."

And so Celine begins telling Jace about the new flowers in the garden, and how they'd recently gotten a new horse. Stephen doesn't take his eyes off Jace the whole time, except once, when he quickly meets Clary's gaze.

"And what about you?" Stephen says, speaking for the first time in a while, "have you got any work coming up?"

"Of course that's what you would want to know about," Jace says, finally looking at his dad.

"I'm just curious - you haven't done anything for a little while is all," Stephen says.

"I was a little busy - you know, having a kid!" Jace says, his voice beginning to rise.

Clary gently places her hand on his leg, and she can feel him relax a little bit.

"I thought it was Clary who had the kid," Stephen says, smiling.

"Just because you didn't do anything with me after I was born, doesn't mean all dads are like that," Jace says. After Stephen doesn't reply, Jace says, "but whatever - I'm going to start filming a TV show when I get home."

"Oh Jace," Celine begins, but Stephen cuts her off.

"A television show?" he says, clearly unhappy at the thought.

"What? You think it's below me?" Jace asks, "because I'm also co-writing and producing it."

"I just thought you'd always stick to movies is all," Stephen says, shrugging.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," Jace replies.

"It's getting late," Clary cuts in, before Jace can say anything he might regret. "I think Jace and I might call it a night."

Still looking angrily at his father, Jace stands up. Clary grabs his hand and it seems to bring him back to reality. She bids Celine goodnight and then gently leads Jace up to the bedroom next to all the kids.

"Are you okay?" she asks once she's closed the door.

"I don't know how he does it," Jace says, searching through their suitcase, "but he always manages to get under my skin."

"You're tired," Clary says, massaging his shoulders, "you've been travelling for a long time. You need to have a shower, and then get some sleep and it'll all be better in the morning."

Jace sighs, "I hope you're right."

They spend the next few days just getting the kids settled into being in France and the new timezone. Celine was amazing with the kids - they all warmed up to her straight away, and she seemed to love having them all around. Stephen, however, looked very out of his element. He'd tried a few times to play with Jamie, but he would usually just run straight to Clary. Jace also didn't give him any chance to spend time alone with the kids - not that Stephen particularly seemed like he wanted to.

All of the kids seem to love playing outside. Just like Jace had told Clary, Idris really was spectacular in the spring, and all of the kids loved laying in the fields of flowers and helping collect eggs from the chickens.

Lucie's eyes light up every time she goes near the horses, and she eventually works up the courage to stroke them on the nose.

Jamie loves to follow Celine around and help her where he can, and he even starts trying to copy her French after a little while.

"When we get home," Clary tells Jace, "I think you should start teaching him some French." She knew it could be a nice bonding activity for the both, and she was still eager to get Jamie and Jace to spend more time alone together.

"Ttout ce que tu veux, mon amour," Jace says, kissing Clary on the forehead. (_Whatever you want, my love.)_

"Et bien tu es un très bon professeur," Clary says, smiling back at him, and quickly kissing him on the lips. (_Well, you are a very good teacher_).

"You two are very cute," Celine says, coming into the room, holding a basket of laundry, Jamie trotting in behind her.

"Maman!" Jace says, "were you watching us?"

"Not watching," Celine says, smiling over her shoulder, "but I did see. Précieuse!"

Jamie mumbles out something that sounds nothing like what Celine has just said, but Clary can't help but scoop him up and start kissing him all over his face and stomach because he's so cute.

Later that night, when everyone is sitting around the table eating dinner, Stephen asks Jace, "so, when are these two going to start doing movies?"

"You just assume they're going to film movies?" Jace says, colour coming to his face.

"I'd gotten you started by now," Stephen says, not even looking up from his meal.

Jace slams his hand on the table, causing his wine glass to fall over and all of the kids to start crying, "they're not slaves, or things to get me more money - they're my goddamn children and I treat them with the respect they deserve!"

Jace was aware of his mother and Clary getting the kids out of the room, but all of his focus was his father right now, ready to say everything that had been building up since he was sixteen.

"Putting that much fucking pressure on a child," Jace tells his dad, "breaks them. I was scared to do anything growing up in case is got in the way of my career. And it still affects me now. Clary and I have almost gotten divorced because of how much I work. I was putting it before everything else because that's all I knew - but that's not normal. It's not normal to expect your child to do all work in a house. It's not normal to pressure them into a career they may not want. And it's not normal to have such fucking high expectations of a five year old."

"But it got you to where you are now, didn't it?" Stephen says, fighting back. "Everyone has struggles in their life. Everyone has expectations for their kids-"

"No they don't! I have no expectations of my kids. I have dreams for them. I have things I want _for _them, but I don't expect anything _from_ them! You have children because you want a family and you love them, and you don't expect anything in return for that."

"You wouldn't have your house, or your cars. You could travel wherever you want, or wear your fancy clothes," Stephen continues.

"I don't need any of that! All of that got you nowhere - the only reason you have any sense of normalcy in your life now is because you know I'd cut you off if you got too out of hand!"

"You wouldn't have Clary," Stephen says, knowing it's a winning point.

"Clary doesn't love me because of my job or my money-" Jace begins.

"I never said she did, but you two wouldn't have met without your job," Stephen says.

"Clary and I have talked about that before, and we agree there's no point in looking at what ifs," Jace says, "because it doesn't change anything now."

"Then what's the point in telling me all of this?" Stephen says.

"Because I can't change my past, but I can stop you from interfering in my kids' future," Jace says, calming down. "I'm not going to let you… your not going to fuck them up the way you messed me up."

After a while of silence, Stephen finally says, "I honestly didn't mean to fuck you up. You mother's helped me see where I went wrong… and I'm sorry. And thank you, for everything you've done for us."

"You don't mean that," Jace says softly, rubbing his temple.

"I do," Stephen insists. "You mother said you probably wouldn't forgive me… and that I should give you some time."

"So you just do everything she tells you now?" Jace asks.

"When it comes to this sort of stuff, pretty much. Yeah," Stephen says, shrugging.

"I'm going to go make sure everyone's okay," Jace says, slowly standing. He doesn't know what else to say, and Stephen doesn't look like he has anything more to say, so Jace leaves the dining room to look for his upset kids.

About a week later, they began the long journey home. Jace had seen little changes in his father - he never brought up any of the kids careers, and he seemed to make a much bigger level to connect with the kids.

Clary wants to stop at New York on the way home to visit Luke. They all stay at Clary's old home, deciding it's probably the place they were least likely to get paparazzied, and it is close to Luke's house.

They were only going to be in New York for three days, because filming started the next week, and Jace wanted to get back with enough time to make sure he was ready. On their second day in New York, Luke takes Jamie to a Yankees game. Jamie comes home in the cutest little Yankees shirt, which Clary finds absolutely adorable.

"I don't think he really understood what was going on," Luke tells Clary, "but he had a good time. And he likes his new shirt, I think."

"He looks just like Jon," Clary says, without thinking. She looks up at Luke and then starts waffling, "well I mean, really, he looks like Jace, but just in that little shirt - it's like the one Jon used to have. And he was always so good at baseball..."

"Are you going to see him? Before you go back to LA?" Luke asks softly.

"I called him a few times, but he never got back to me," Clary says, trying not to sound pathetic.

Luke nods, knowing she wouldn't want to talk any more on the topic.

"What else have you guys got planned?" Luke asks.

"We're going to take the kids to Central Park tomorrow morning before we go to the airport," Clary tells him.

Which is what they do the next day. They assumed that they would be safe from most people recognising them if they were all just playing in the park, and they hoped that anyone that did recognise them would let them be. That's what usually happened when they went to parks in L.A.

This would, however, be the first opportunity for a photo of Lucie, and the first photo of the whole family, which Clary and Jace had forgotten.

They hadn't been in the park for ten minutes before they were absolutely hounded by paparazzi. The twins weren't posing this time, but screaming and grabbing at their parents. Jamie was crying as well, and was refusing to move, and Clary could hear Lucie cries coming from in the stroller.

Jace is swearing at the paparazzi, pushing them away from and trying to protect his family. He grabs one of the men's cameras and pushes it into the ground, and then pushes the guy backwards.

In the meantime, Clary is trying to calm down and cover all the kids, and more importantly, make sure they don't get hurt.

After they seem to get all the photos they want, and Jace scares them all away, they are able to get a taxi, and get back to the house before going straight to the airport. The kids are pretty rattled for the rest of the day, and Clary already has already had multiple phone calls about seeing how they can stop the photos from getting out.

It's needless to say, everyone in the Herondale household was happy to get home.

* * *

I hope you liked that one! I think there will be two or three more chapters, and then I'll do the time jump forward so the kids are a bit older. I hope you're all happy and healthy, and have a great week :)


	39. Chapter 39: Jealousy

**Chapter 39: Jealousy**

Hello everyone and welcome back to another chapter! I've got a big question to ask you at the end of this chapter, so if you could read that and answer I would really appreciate it! Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Filming officially started on Jace's TV show one week after they got back from their holiday. Jace spent that time finalising scripts and sets, and getting to know his new co-stars. Once filming did start, Clary would come in each day with all the kids to get lunch with Jace.

He usually had to leave before all the kids were awake, and often got home after they had gone to sleep, so this assured that he would get to have at least one meal with them each day. Clary loved to watch Jace work, and after a few trips in she had managed to get everything under control pretty easily.

There were also a bunch of people on set - Jace's co-starts, assistants and makeup people, who absolutely adored Clary and Jace's kids, so if she arrived while Jace was still filming it wasn't difficult to find someone who wanted to play with them, which made everything a lot easier.

When Clary arrived on set one day, Jace was in the middle of filming a scene. Ella, Teddy and Jamie were scooped up by people very quickly, and so Clary walked over to the monitor to watch Jace's scene.

He was filming a scene with his 'girlfriend', where he's having a conversation about how he feels like he can't trust anyone the way he trusted her. The ironic part was that she would eventually reveal that she was cheating on Jace's character with another one of his band mates, and she was really only with him anymore because of the attention it brought her. That triggered this whole psychedelic drug trip for Jace's character, which Jace was really excited about filming.

Jace and his 'girlfriend' start kissing, and things quickly become heated. Clary turns away from the monitor and set, and watches one of the makeup artists playing with Ella.

She knew it was all acting. She had no reason to feel jealous - Jace loved her, he had told her so many times, and showed her in lots of different ways. But things hadn't exactly been steamy between the two of them since Lucie had been born, and this was a bit of a slap in the face of a reminder.

Only after the director calls cut and Clary knows that they both would have put their shirt back on is she able to turn back around. Jace waves at her, and quickly makes his way over.

"Hey baby," Jace says, kissing her on the cheek.

"Hey," Clary says back, with what she knows is a forced smile. Luckily, Jace was looking at all the kids playing. He walks over to Jamie, lifts him up and starts moving him around the air making rocket noises, while Jamie squeals and laughs in delight. So really, watching him now, how could she tell him that she was jealous.

He clearly picked up that something was wrong while they were eating lunch, however, but Clary just keeps brushing him off.

When she gets home, she decides that she needs to put an end to it immediately. Sure, she probably had a right to feel a bit uncomfortable watching her husband make out with another woman, but she shouldn't feel jealous. Not when she knew it was acting.

She makes a few calls, and arranges for the twins to stay with Alec and Magnus, Jamie to stay with Simon and Izzy and Lucie to stay with Emma and Jules. She drops all the kids off, and quickly gets to work on planning a romantic night for her and Jace.

She puts on some lingerie Izzy had bought her a while back, and then puts a dress that she knows Jace loves over it. She then puts on makeup and does her hair, and then begins cooking Jace's favourite meal.

"Hello!" Jace calls out as he comes in from the garage.

"In here!" Clary calls from the dining room, and quickly begins lighting the candles on the table.

"What's all this about?" Jace says, looking at the table, and then up at his wife. He quickly looks her up and down.

"I thought you deserved a nice night," Clary says. "You've been working so hard on your TV show, and it looks so good, so I thought I would surprise you."

"You didn't have to do that," Jace says, walking over to Clary, "you do so much already - if anything, I should be doing all this for you."

"That's ridiculous," Clary says, going on her tippy toes to kiss him on the cheek. "Now let's eat before it gets cold."

They eat, making small conversation throughout the meal. Jace is suspicious - he knows something has happened but he doesn't say anything. She had been acting oddly at lunch, but he knew he had to wait for the right opportunity to ask her about it.

After dinner, they move into the living room, where Clary pushes Jace onto the couch, and then sits on his lap and starts sucking on his neck. He gets momentarily lost in the feeling, but after a moment he pulls back.

"Clary, what's going on?" he asks.

"Nothing," she says, smiling at him. She begins running her fingers through his hair, and then leans in to begin kissing him again.

"Clary is this about what you saw on set today?" From her expression he knows that it is. "You have absolutely nothing to be jealous about, you know. I would _never_ and I mean it, _never_ cheat on you."

"I know you would never cheat on me," Clary says, leaning back so she can see his whole face. "I just wanted to show you that I could still be sexy. I know I haven't lost all the baby weight yet, and I thought that maybe you would look at me differently after I had four children-"

"Clary," Jace says, cutting her off, "you are absolutely perfect. You are the sexiest woman I have ever laid eyes on. I adore you. I don't need you to lose weight, or prove that you're sexy."

"We haven't done anything in months, Jace. I know you probably don't want to view me differently, but I think subconsciously you do, and I just wanted to show you that I can still be like the old me," Clary says.

"I don't want you to be like the old you Clary," Jace says seriously, "sure, we may have been more physical before we had kids. And that was great for then, but our relationship is so much more than that now. I love you in ways I didn't even know where possible then. You've given me four, beautiful kids that I love more than anything else on this earth. We've built a home together, we've built a life together. And I wouldn't change that for anything. The person you are today, and the person I am today are completely different from the two people that got married all those years ago. And I'm so thankful for it. We've grown together."

"I still don't understand why we can't be those new people, but be more physical with each other," Clary says.

"I didn't want to rush you into something you weren't ready for," Jace explains. "You've had a lot of kids pretty quickly, and I didn't know what you were comfortable with, and I didn't want to pressure you into doing anything."

"So you're sure it has nothing to do with all the weight I've gained and how I've pretty much lost my sex appeal when I became a mother," Clary asks.

"Let me show you," Jace says, gently lifting her off his lap and laying her down on the couch.

Later that night, there was a banging on the door.

"Wazzat?" Jace said groggily, rolling over again.

"Jace," Clary said, fully alert, "there's someone at the door."

At her words, Jace sat up. "You check the security, and I'll go down by the door."

Clary thanked the Angels that her kids weren't in the house as she hurried off to a TV to check the security cameras.

She saw Jace on one screen holding a baseball bat and slowly making his way towards the door. In another, she saw a man standing at the door. He bangs on the door again, and then falls backwards, so Clary can see his face.

"Jace," she yells out, "it's Kit. It's okay."

"Fucking hell!" she hears him call out, and then she hears him put down the bat and open the door.

She's able to see the door right as Kit leans to the side and vomits.

"Do you wanna deal with this?" Jace says, turning to face Clary.

"I'll need help getting him into the bathroom," Clary says, "but then I can deal with it."

So Jace helps Clary pick Kit up and drag him towards the closest bathroom. Once he knows everything is under control, Jace goes back to bed.

Clary lets Kit settle in the bathroom for a little while, handing him a cold face washer and a glass of water, before eventually asking what the problem is.

"It's Livvy's and I'se fourth anniversary t'day," Kit slurs out.

"Well that's good, isn't it?" Clary says.

"I took her out for a fancy meal," Kit says slowly, "bought 'pensive champagne!"

"Oh Kit," Clary says, suddenly realising. "Were you going to propose? Did she say no?"

"Why does everyone assume I'm going to propose?" Kit yells.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Clary says, trying to calm him down. "What happened then."

"Well," Kit says, clearly thinking back on the night's events. "She thought I was going to propose as well… and then I told her that I never wanted to get married and she dumped me!"

"Oh Kit, I'm so sorry," Clary said. She didn't know that he didn't want to get married, but she did know how much Livvy meant to him.

"So then I went out, and drank _a lot_, and then I came here. Because I didn't want to be alone!" Kit says, leaning on the toilet.

"You don't have to be alone," Clary says. You can stay in one of the spare bedrooms tonight, and then we can talk in the morning when you feel better."

"I want to see Lucie!" Kit yells, and then tries to stand up.

Clary helps him stay on his feet, and tells him "Lucie isn't here right now. But she'll be home in the morning, and you can see her then, okay?"

Kit nods, and lets Clary lead him towards one of the spare rooms. "There's a bathroom just there," Clary says, pointing to the adjoining bathroom, "and Jace and I will be just down there if you need anything, okay?"

Kit nods, and then falls on top of the covers, falling asleep almost straight away.

Clary takes his shoes off before going back to her bedroom, thinking the whole time about how lucky she was to have Jace.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed that! As I see it, I have one chapter left before I do the time jump, unless there's something specific someone wants to see (please let me know!) What I want to ask is if people actually want to read a story about the kids when they're older. Because if nobody is really interested then I probably won't write it. I also want to know, if you do want to read a story with the older kids... would you prefer it to happen in this story, or in it's own?

So pretty much my question is: do you want to read a story about the kids when they're older, and if yes, would you want it to be it's own separate story?

Thanks for answering and I hope you all have a wonderful week :)


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